A Single Moment
by Insert Valid Author Name
Summary: A single moment can redefine history. An action can have serious repercussions. A new emotion can raise a hero. And true love can drive a man to destiny. Naruto Uzumaki, adopted son of Anko Mitarashi will never know what could've been - but he'll strive to be the best he can anyways. Massive AU, RinneganNaruto, Naruto/Fuu.
1. Naruto's Childhood

**So this is my excuse as to why I haven't updated **_**Rites of Blood**_** or **_**HP and the Eleventh Commandment**_**. In my defense, this is over 9400 words long, and I don't know that much about Naruto anyways – I had to do research. I've been stewing this thing for some time now, but I don't think I'll ever finish it. Only time will tell.**

Arc I – The Times before Seven

Chapter I – Naruto's Childhood

"This is a complete audio recording of the interrogation of Konoha genin Naruto Uzumaki, age 16, registration number 012607. Interrogation to be done by Konoha Jonin Inoichi Yamanaka, mental interrogator of the Konoha ANBU Torture and Interrogation Unit. Let it be known the subject in question has volunteered for this method of interrogation."

Inoichi clears his throat. "Alright Naruto," he says, "before we start, I would like to know how you knew about this method of interrogation and why chose it."

"I knew about it because my mom told me about it. Your daughter, Ino, confirmed the existence of the Jutsu two days ago," says Naruto. "I understand that this is a Yamanaka hidden Jutsu, but I think that it's the only way to prove her innocence."

"And why is that, Naruto?"

Naruto sighs, "It's all in the details, sir. The whole thing is pretty confusing, so it'll take a lot of explaining to do… and I don't feel like talking that much."

Inoichi chuckles. "I suppose you're right. And please, haven't I told you to call me Inoichi? It's not our first session, you know."

"Those were to get my psychological profile, you weren't getting a front-row seat to 'The Life and Lies of Naruto Uzumaki.'"

Inoichi laughs, "You're right, of course, but there's not much of a difference. You can relax. Everything will turn out the way it should."

"Thank you, Inoichi."

Inoichi is heard fidgeting in his chair for a moment. "Ok, Naruto, before we start I want to explain something real quick. The Jutsu I'm about to use will allow me to enter your mind and view your memories as if I was there. The problem is that I can't go straight to the memory we want to see – I have to go back _before_ the memory in question and work my way from there."

"Ino explained as much."

"And you agree to it? Please state your answer verbally for the recording."

"I do."

"In that case, let's start with something easy – a memory from your childhood. You can try and guide me if you want, but I'll know if you try and block me. If you do, I'll assume that it's something relating to the crime and force my way through, do you understand?"

"I do."

"Good. Let's begin. _Ninja Style: Memory Window Jutsu!_"

A moment of silence. "Naruto, you have to let me in."

"Hmm? Oh, sorry, it's the glasses, they have protection seals on them. Alright, go ahead, it should work now."

"_Ninja Style: Memory Window Jutsu!_"

…**ooOoo…**

"Get back here, demon!"

"Get him!"

_Run, you dummy, run!_ Seven-year-old Naruto Uzumaki panted as she sprinted away from the mob chasing him. He didn't understand why the villagers were chasing him – he wanted to enjoy the festival too, so for the first time in his life he ignored what Old-man-Hokage had told him and tried to enjoy himself. As soon as he stepped into the streets however, he was recognized by some drunk villagers, and the chase began. If it had been any other day, his chest would've puffed out in pride – he was the future Hokage after all – but now it was huffing _and_ puffing in terror. This had never happened before, he should've listened to the old man, oh gods, he was going to _die_-

He shook his head, clearing his thoughts as he ran. If he kept thinking like that he _would_ die. The mob had been chasing him for nearly thirty minutes, and they didn't look like they were going to stop any time soon. Which was strange just in itself – while he had been chased by kids or a small group of adults, Naruto was always quick to spot two Konoha ANBU stepping in to avoid things from escalating. Looking back as he turned a corner, he noticed that the villagers were getting closer and getting ready to throw things-

_Wham!_

Naruto bounced off from the impact, landing painfully on the ground. Looking up, he saw a violet-haired woman dressed in a full mesh body suit, dark orange skirt and a tan overcoat standing there with a surprised expression on her face as she looked at him. However, the expression quickly turned into one of anger, and Naruto trembled in fear when he spotted the Konoha headband she wore – she was a ninja.

"Watch where you're going, brat!"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"

"Oh you better be, that was my last bit of dango!"

Wait, what?

Naruto blinked in surprise at the last statement before he looked at the ground and spotted the food in question.

"Oh…" he blinked again as he stood, "I'm sorry, I didn't see you-"

"There he is!"

Both Naruto and the Kunoichi turned at the angry voice. The younger boy paled as he saw the mob that had been chasing him turn the corner with cries of, "Get the demon!"

Naruto made to run away, but the ninja next to him grabbed his shoulder to prevent him from doing so. "Stop squirming, brat!" she said when he tried to break free, "I'm trying to help you! Summoning Jutsu!"

Naruto stopped his attempts to get away from the woman when the cloud of smoke dispersed and revealed a snake, but not just any snake – it was a pitch-black King Cobra the size of a boa constrictor. Just the sight of the monstrous snake was enough to stop the drunk mob.

The Kunoichi smiled. "Anyone want to touch the kid? You'll have to go through _me_!" As if to emphasize the threat, the King Cobra seemed to rise until its head was looking down at the mob with a hungry gaze, spitting at the crowd when the Kunoichi said "me."

"It's the Snake Mistress! RUN!"

Naruto had never seen a crowd disperse so fast. A few seconds later, the snake disappeared in another cloud of smoke. Hearing laughter, he turned to look at the Kunoichi next to him.

"Did you see their faces?" she cried, clutching her sides as she laughed. "Oh, that so made my day!" She nearly fell to the ground, she was laughing so hard. When she calmed down, she heard two words that made her freeze.

"Thank you."

She turned to the kid, who was looking at her with wide blue eyes and- _oh those whisker marks are so cuuuuuute!_

Even the Snake Mistress of Konoha wasn't immune to the boy's charms. Bad enough that he had said 'Thank you' to her – it was an expression she seldom heard – and now he gives the puppy-eyed look, without even knowing!

The Kunoichi smirked at him. "No problem, kid… but you're not off the hook!" She pointed at the forgotten ruined dango on the pavement. "You owe me for that!"

Naruto blinked for a moment. _It's not ramen, but if she really likes it… besides, she helped me out!_ Naruto grinned at her, "Sure!" He held out his hand to her, "I'm Naruto Uzumaki, future Hokage! What's your name?"

Anko smiled back at him as she took his hand – she already knew who the brat was, of course, but even so she could stop herself from smiling at the kids' enthusiasm. "Name's Anko Mitarashi, kid," she said as they started to walk. She was surprised when Naruto didn't let go of her hand, merely shifting his grip so that they continued to hold hands as they continued to walk, giving the appearance of a mother and her child.

The comparison didn't escape Anko, but before she could follow that train of thought she was distracted by Naruto's excitement. "You're a ninja right? That was so cool how you made that snake appear and scare them off! Even I was scared! How'd you do that?"

Anko smirked at him. "That…" she said, deciding to tease him, "is a secret ninja technique that I can't tell you about unless you're a ninja." She couldn't help but laugh at his crestfallen face. "But don't worry, all you have to do is join the Academy and become a ninja! What are you, six, seven? You should be able to enroll in the academy about a year from now."

Naruto looked indignant, "I'm seven and a half!"

Anko smiled at his reaction, "Whoa there! I didn't mean to offend you! How about this, you buy me some dango, and I'll buy whatever you want as an apology?"

Naruto's eyes lit up, "Ramen!"

Anko nodded as they turned another corner, still holding hands – by now, Anko had forgotten about that minor tidbit. "Ramen it is, then," she said, "And I know just the place…"

As they walked away, neither noticed the happy sigh from a certain old man that had been looking at the entire event.

…**ooOoo…**

"_Release!"_

"Whoa, that was intense… and I didn't even know the Old Man was there!"

"You get extra details through the use of the Jutsu. What happened after that?" Inoichi asks.

When Naruto speaks, it is obvious he is smiling. "We had dinner, of course. After we ate, she took me to the apartment the Old Man had given me, but it had been broken into. I wasn't surprised, but Anko was furious. She invited me to spend the night over at _her_ apartment, and six months later Lord Hokage approved the adoption papers. It was the best birthday ever."

"I remember that…" Inoichi says, "I was one of the councilmen that approved the move. I remember that Lord Hokage had banned the civilian council for that meeting – I think he knew that they wouldn't approve."

"They didn't call him the professor for nothing."

"No, they didn't…" Inoichi sighs in remembrance before chuckling.

"What?" asks Naruto, amused.

"Oh, I'm just remembering how happy Anko was around that time. Poor bastards here in T&I didn't know what hit them. Most of us were pretty surprised as well. 'Motherhood' and 'Anko' just didn't fit together… but they did."

"Good times, huh?"

"Indeed. So, are you ready?"

"Yeah, go ahead."

"Alright then, let's move on to the next important event of your life… _Ninja Style: Memory Window Jutsu!_"

…**ooOoo…**

"Hi!"

Surprised, a pink-haired ten-year-old looked up at one Naruto Uzumaki, who was smiling at her as he stood next to the table where she was having lunch. Naruto pointed at the empty seat to her. "Is this seat taken?" he asked.

Naruto had changed in the two years since he was adopted. He had grown and gotten a simple makeover. Instead of his white shirt, blue shorts, and ninja sandals, he had donned blue ninja pants, a white long-sleeved t-shirt, black ninja sandals, and a grey trench coat, similar to the one his mother, Anko Mitarashi, wore.

The girl seemed to sit up straighter. "It's reserved for Sasuke, my eternal love…but you can sit there!" she said, pointing at the empty bench across from her. Naruto shrugged and plopped down in the empty seat she had indicated.

"Thanks… everywhere else is full," he said. "You're Sakura, right? My name's Naruto, please to meet you!"

Sakura nodded, "I know, we're in the same class with Iruka-Sensei." Sakura looked around before frowning. "Umm… there are some empty seats over there," she said, pointing at a table where a group of boys of the same age were sitting.

Naruto scowled when he saw the table she was pointing at. "Nah, Sasuke's sitting there," he said.

Sakura stilled. "And what's the problem with Sasuke?" she asked, her voice like steel.

Naruto frowned. Had it been any other time, he probably wouldn't have noticed Sakura's rising anger, but he had enough experience with his adoptive mother to recognize the signs.

He smiled at her. "The problem isn't Sasuke, Sakura," he said, trying to placate her, "It's his fan girls."

"So you're jealous of him?"

"No way! With the way those girls hound him day and night?" Naruto shuddered theatrically – he just hoped that he wasn't overdoing it. "That would be a nightmare come true… All the guys agree – I think even Sasuke said so too."

Sakura blinked at the new information. She tried to speak again, "Sasuke doesn't-"

"Oh he likes girls, Sakura – at least I think he does – but no guy likes girls chasing after you every single moment of their lives. Would you like it if I were to ask you out every time I wanted to?"

Sakura drew back as if offended. "Of course not!" she said, "You're not Sasuke!"

"And if you didn't like Sasuke, and he were to ask you out every day?"

"That would never happen, I would never betray Sasuke like that!"

Naruto groaned – why was it so hard for her to understand? "Sakura, you're missing the point!" he said, throwing his arms out dramatically. "Just look at him, Sakura! Does it look like he's enjoying the attention?"

Sakura glanced at the group. "Ino-pig's there, so of course-"

"He's not supposed to, Sakura, we're training to be ninja, _we can't_ _like the attention!_"

For once, this actually made Sakura pause, and internally, Naruto cheered at finally getting something into the pinkette's head, even though he had no idea where _that_ came from.

After a few moments, Sakura spoke again. "So what you're saying is that I can't get his love the way I've doing?"

Naruto blinked. "Umm, that's not-"

"That actually makes sense!"

"Huh?"

"I can't ask him out if I'm not his friend first!" Sakura stood, pointing her fist to the air, "From now on, I shall try my best to get Sasuke's love by being his friend – his best friend!" She pointed at Naruto, "And you're going to help me!"

_How did I end up like this?_ Naruto asked himself. "Uh, sure, whatever you say," he said.

Sakura grinned and returned to her lunch. Out of the corner of his eye, he glanced at a table filled with the other boys in Iruka Sensei's class, who were looking at him with hopeful glances. _Later,_ he mouthed at them before looking back at Sakura and engaging her in conversation.

When lunch was over, Kiba Inuzuka nonchalantly walked up next to him. "How'd it go?" he asked, barely moving his lips.

Naruto sighed, stuffing his hands into the pockets of his trench coat. "Operation Fan-Girls-Away, phase 1, partial success" he said in the same way, "The idea's been planted, let's just hope Shino and Shikamaru's plan works."

Kiba scoffed. "Since does one of Shika's plans fail?" he asked.

Naruto blinked and conceded.

…**ooOoo…**

"Care to elaborate on that?"

Naruto laughs. "You're really getting interested in this, Inoichi, should I be worried?"

Inoichi reciprocates Naruto's laughter, "What can I say, it gets boring around here pretty quick. You can't blame me for being curious. What was the plan?"

"The plan was to get rid of Sasuke's fan girls by convincing them that acting like blood hounds wasn't attractive. Even the rest of us guys took pity on the guy. We chose Sakura because she was alone after fighting with Ino, so we figured that she'd be easier to convince."

"And it worked?"

"To a certain extent. Sakura _did_ stop acting the way she did, but we could never convince the rest of the girls to stop following Sasuke, and by proxy, us. Funnily enough though, Sakura and I _did_ become pretty good friends after that – we'd been friends for a day before the Academy. A few months later, Sakura succeeded in becoming Sasuke's friend."

"And you? Team 7's legacy hasn't diminished over the years, so you must've been good friends with Sasuke as well."

"I was. Mom had told me about how Sasuke had been orphaned in the Uchiha Massacre, so in a way I could relate to him. When Sakura became his friend, so did I."

"You were never rivals or anything like that?"

"No, not really. We balanced each other out pretty well. Sasuke was good at genjutsu and taijutsu like most of the Uchiha clan, and I was better at being a general powerhouse and ninjutsu thanks to mom's lessons. Sakura helped us both in theory and history, and she was even better at genjutsu and chakra control than Sasuke."

"And so the infamous Haru-Uchi-Uzu trio was formed… you three had a tough road."

"Yeah, we did. Things turned out right though, mostly thanks to Granny Tsunade."

"What do you mean? Oh, you're talking about Sasuke's S-rank mission."

"Yep. But that comes later."

"You're right. Let's move on, shall we? _Ninja Style: Memory Window Jutsu!_"

…**ooOoo…**

"I'm sorry, Naruto… I have no choice but to fail you."

The words registered in Naruto's mind, and yet the boy couldn't help but repeat them again and again in his mind. They were like hornets, stinging him again and again and causing him pain every time.

And all because he couldn't make a descent clone! All those days practicing with Sasuke and Sakura, trying to get his genjutsu clone to work and all for nothing! His henge was perfect, his taijutsu and his weapon training were flawless, his substitution technique was a little slow, but his stupid clones weren't worth crap!

Dejected, he walked out of the academy classroom, not noticing the pensive look Mizuki shot at him. Neither he, his friends, nor his mother knew why his chakra control was so abysmal, but he had a suspicion that _his_ mother suspected something. Unfortunately, it wasn't anything that she was telling him, since every time he would ask she would dodge the question in true Anko Mitarashi style: take him out for Dango and Ramen.

And like a true sucker, he would fall for it. Every single time.

Gods, his mother – what would she think? Naruto shrank at the idea of telling her that he had failed to graduate – just the disappointment was enough to make him cringe.

"Hey, Naruto!"

Looking around at the call, he spotted Sakura and Sasuke waiting for him, Konoha forehead protectors already on – at least Sakura did; Sasuke had probably stored it somewhere, since he wasn't wearing it. All the graduating genin were outside with their families, while it looked like those that had failed had already left. Glancing around, he tried to subtly look for Anko, but was relieved after he remembered her apology in the morning – she wasn't going to be able to pick him up. Something about investigating a traitor…

"Did you pass?" asked Sakura, excitement coloring her tone, "How did it go? What Jutsus did they asked you to perform?"

Naruto sighed, "Henge, substitution technique…"

When he didn't elaborate, Sasuke frowned, "They asked for the clone technique, didn't they?"

When Naruto nodded, Sakura gasped, "Oh, Naruto…"

"It's fine, Sakura," he said dejectedly, "I'll just try again next year or something."

"What if we talk to Iruka-Sensei?" asked Sakura, grasping at straws, "Maybe he can make an exception if you show them something else…"

"The Substitution, Transformation, and Clone techniques are essential to a Shinobi," said Sasuke, "Iruka won't retract his decision."

"But what if he tries again tomorrow or something like that?" asked Sakura, "I mean, his technique has definitely improved compared to the _first_ time we saw his clone..." She turned to Naruto, "This one could at _least_ stand, right?" Behind her, Sasuke's palm met his face.

Naruto glared, "You're not helping, Sakura… and yes, yes it did." He shook his head, sighing again, "But it doesn't matter. Iruka-Sensei won't pass me, I know that for sure. Heck, _I_ wouldn't pass me."

"What about your mom, what if she were to-?"

"That would pretty much defeat the whole purpose of the exam, wouldn't it?" Naruto retorted, not letting her finish. "Besides, I want to pass on my own account, not because my mom decided to 'talk' to Iruka-Sensei." Naruto shivered in disgust.

Sakura looked downcast, "I'm sorry, I'm just trying to help…"

Naruto smiled at her. "Thanks, Sakura," he said, truly meaning it, "You to, Sasuke." Even though the brooding boy hadn't said much, the fact that he was still here in support was enough for Naruto.

Sasuke inclined his head with an "Hmph" sound. The guy had a way with words. Sakura for her part smiled gently at him.

"What are you going to do then?" asked Sakura.

Naruto frowned, "I think I'm going to go home. There's not much I can do about it know – might as well make sure that my mom's the first to hear the news."

"Are you going to be ok?" asked Sakura.

"I'll be fine," he said, "Don't worry about me. I'll see you guys later." With that, he turned and walked away.

Sakura looked like she was going to follow him, but found herself held back by Sasuke. At any other time, she probably would've been flustered – Sasuke rarely initiated contact with someone after all – but now was not the time for such things. "Leave him," he said, "he needs to be alone for a while. He'll be fine."

Sakura looked back at Naruto. "I hope you're right," she said.

…**ooOoo…**

"You shouldn't be too hard on yourself," Mizuki was telling him. The teacher's assistant had caught up to him a few minutes after he had left the academy, and the two were now sitting on one of the many rooftops of Konoha, looking at the sunset. Mizuki continued, "Iruka's only trying to help you in his own way."

"I know, I know," said Naruto, "I don't really blame him. It's like I told Sakura earlier, I would've failed myself if I had been the examiner."

Mizuki laughed. "Would you really?" he asked.

"Well, yeah," Naruto said like it was obvious, "Those three jutsu are essential to a ninja's repertoire – they're essential to a Shinobi. Or something like that… I don't really remember everything Sasuke said about that."

"Well, he's right," said Mizuki, "Even though they're labeled as E-rank jutsus, just substitution alone has saved many lives, especially during the nine-tailed fox attack."

Naruto was confused, and he said so. "What does the bijuu have anything to do with this?" he asked.

"Well," said Mizuki, "in a way, it's what makes Iruka so heavy about you learning those three techniques. He lost his parents during the attack, you see, so he feels that he needs to prepare you as much as he can before sending you out on the field."

Naruto nodded, "That makes sense, I guess. Still, there isn't much I can do about it now. Guess I'll have to try again next year."

Mizuki looked away, muttering, "You do have the maturity…"

Naruto looked back at him, "Did you say something?"

Mizuki pretended to shrug, "Oh, I was just thinking about the optional graduation exam."

"Optional Graduation Exam?"

"Oh yes. Iruka probably wouldn't tell this, but he's usually been forced to pass potential students through a second graduation exam. I was just thinking you've been taking his decision with a lot of maturity, so it's possible that I can give you the exam."

"Really?" Naruto grinned. This was perfect! "You'd do that?"

Mizuki smiled, though inwardly he was cheering, "Sure I would. Tell you what, you pass the exam, and I'll put in a good word for you with the Hokage."

"Thanks, Mizuki-sensei!" said Naruto, standing up in his excitement, "Whoo-hoo! Look out, Konoha, Naruto Uzumaki's going to be a ninja! I'm going to ace this exam, believe it!" Naruto paused for a moment, before looking at Mizuki chagrined. "So what am I doing again?" he asked.

Mizuki's smile grew a tad sinister.

…**ooOoo…**

"Let's see what's in this scroll…" said Naruto, sitting down on the ground as he opened the Scroll Mizuki-sensei had told him to find. Getting comfortable, he started to read, "Multi-shadow clone Jutsu… another clone jutsu? Aww, man… wait, what?" He did a double take, reading the passage again. _Solid clones? That means it's not a genjutsu! I can learn this jutsu!_ Naruto crowed inwardly, _Still, it wouldn't hurt to see if I can find anything else in here…_

"Eight Trigrams sealing style…" Naruto quietly read to himself, "also known as the Reaper Death Seal, consists of two Four Symbol Seals. Can be used to seal creatures of immense power into living, human sacrifices. Labeled as Kinjutsu as the seal requires the caster's death." _Fuuinjutsu… this sounds like really heavy stuff, I'd better not try this out – not that I want to die anyways. I don't even know that much about Sealing anyways, but it should be a good thing to learn. Iruka-sensei always said that sealing masters are pretty rare._ He made a mental note to learn a little about Sealing in the future.

He wanted to get to work, but in a way, he couldn't help but continue reading. Still, he couldn't help but frown at the next entry – it was the Kanji word for _Seal_. Shrugging, he placed his finger on the seal and channeled a little chakra into the seal. There was a poof of smoke, and when it cleared, Naruto was greeted with the sight of another scroll.

Groaning, Naruto reached over and picked it up, already dreading the read. Opening it, his eyes widened at the title – A _Summoning Contract_. Naruto grinned. His mom had signed one, the Snake contract if he remembered correctly, so he knew how handy it was to have a summon available. He noted the animal, and decided to look into it later. After all, he didn't know the hand signs for the Summoning Jutsu anyways.

"Well," he said, "Better get to work. I have to learn at least one technique by the time Mizuki-sensei gets here. Might as well try the Shadow Clone Jutsu." Getting up from the ground, he rolled the massive scroll back up and formed a seal, closing his eyes and gathering his chakra. When he felt ready, he spoke, "Shadow Clone Jutsu!" There was a burst of smoke, and when Naruto opened his eyes, they widened at what he was seeing.

Hours later, one Iruka Umino found him battered, bruised, and generally tired from all the training.

"Naruto!" said Iruka, both relieved and angry, "What were you thinking?"

Naruto turned to look at him, and Iruka noted the general sense of triumph surrounding the boy. "Hey Iruka-Sensei!" he said, "I guess this means that the exam is over?"

Iruka blinked, not expecting the question. "Exam?" he asked confused. "Naruto, what are you talking about?"

"Don't worry, Iruka-Sensei, I know all about the optional graduation exam!" he said, misinterpreting his teacher's confusion, "Mizuki-sensei told me all about it, and I learned one technique from the scroll like he told me too! I tried to learn another one, but I don't know the hand signs for a summoning jutsu or about sealing jutsu."

_Summoning and Fuuinjutsu?_ Iruka thought, dumbfounded. _Naruto, just what have you been up to? And what does Mizuki have anything to do with this?_ He looked at Naruto – _really_ looked at him this time. Apart from all the dirt, Naruto had a few bruises that Iruka recognized from sparring. His blue ninja pants were dirty, but Iruka noticed two new additions in the form of shin guards. His tan overcoat was dirty as well, and the long-sleeved shirt had seen better days, but mostly he looked pretty good.

_Even though I know he's adopted, there's something in his expression that reminds me of Anko,_ Iruka thought to himself. _It doesn't help that he dresses just like her. That face though… has he been training out here all this time? But why would he steal the Scroll of Sealing?_

"Naruto, do you know what you've done?" asked Iruka, trying to remain stern – he needed to get to the bottom of this, after all.

By now, Naruto was starting to suspect that something was up, so he decided to stick to the truth. "Well, yeah!" he said, "I snuck into the Hokage's tower and got this scroll, just like Mizuki-sensei told me too! He said that if I wanted to graduate, I needed to pass the second exam and learn a technique from the Scroll, and he even told me where to find it!"

"Naruto, that's the Forbidden Scroll of Sealing!" Iruka said, "There are techniques in that scroll, _Forbidden_ techniques, that belong to this village and that other villages would _kill_ to have! There's a reason why the First Hokage sealed those techniques away!" Iruka didn't ask him how he even managed to get _close_ to the Scroll, as a part of him was afraid of the answer.

Naruto had been paling the more that Iruka spoke, reaching the same conclusion that Iruka had reached. "Why would Mizuki-sensei set me up?" he asked, holding the scroll close to him.

"Because I want power, and you were expendable."

Both Naruto and Iruka whirled at the sound of Mizuki's voice, and Iruka's eyes widened at the sight of various kunai headed in their direction. "Naruto, look out!" he yelled, pushing the younger boy out of the way as he took the brunt of the hit.

"So you found our little hideaway, huh?" Mizuki stated from atop the tree branch he was perched on.

Iruka winced as he pulled out another kunai from his leg, "Mizuki! I should've known! Naruto, don't let Mizuki get that scroll! He used you to get all that power for himself!"

Naruto's expression changed from confusion to determination – he wasn't letting this prick get away with this!

"Naruto," said Mizuki in a condescending voice, "He's lying to you."

"You're the one who's lying!" yelled Iruka angrily, but Mizuki ignored him.

"I'm the only one who's never lied to you," Mizuki continued, noticing Naruto's look of confusion return, "In fact, they've all lied to you! Even the woman you call your mother lied to you!"

Iruka paled. "No, Mizuki, don't do it!"

"What are you talking about?" asked Naruto, his confusion increasing, as well as his anger, "Don't talk about my mom like that, you don't even know her!"

"You see Naruto, it has to do with the Kyuubi's attack twelve years ago," Mizuki said, ignoring Naruto's words, "The Nine Tailed Fox is a demon of immense power, so powerful that a creature like that simply couldn't be killed. So instead, the Fourth Hokage, decided to compromise – he would seal the demon away with a powerful jutsu into a sacrifice of his choosing. And he chose you, Naruto!"

Naruto went absolutely still.

"No!" Iruka yelled, "Naruto, you aren't the fox!"

Mizuki laughed, "And who are you to talk, Iruka! When Naruto started the Academy, even _you_ saw him as the fox!" He looked back at Naruto, "Why do you think that everybody treated you with hate and anger, like they hated the fact that you were alive! Why do you think that you will never be accepted by this village!? It's because the fox has taken over your body – _you are the Nine Tailed Fox that attacked our village and destroyed hundreds of lives!_"

Blue chakra started to emerge around Naruto – so powerful that it was visible. "No…" he said, not looking conscious about the fact that he was speaking, "No, no, NO!"

For a moment, Iruka could've sworn his eyes turned purple.

"Naruto…" Iruka said, remembering the Hokage's words.

"_He's alone, and even though he doesn't show it, he's hurting for the family he doesn't have…" Sarutobi looked out the window, lost in his memories. "Young Anko may have filled that void to an extent, but the pain, the confusion will always be there. That's why ever since he was adopted, he hasn't gotten into trouble as much as when he was younger." Sarutobi looked at Iruka, "Tell me, Iruka, how would you feel if you were ignored every day of your life, even people even refused to acknowledge your existence? Even now, Anko Mitarashi may have an idea of the beauty of the deed she did by adopting Naruto, but she will never understand the long-term consequences of the good she has done for Naruto. All I ask is that you do the same – acknowledge him. Talk to him. Be his friend, his _teacher_, Iruka."_

Iruka was drawn out of his memories by the sound of wind whistling. Mizuki had drawn one of the massive Shuriken on his back and started to spin it. "Now, Naruto… die!" With those words, Mizuki threw the Shuriken, and Iruka's eyes widened.

"Naruto look out!" he yelled, even as Naruto tried to scramble away. Naruto threw out his hand, trying to shield himself, and Iruka threw himself into the Shuriken's path of death. It was as if everything had slowed down – Naruto's look of panic and fear, the shuriken seeming to halt for a moment-

And then it pierced Iruka's back.

For a moment, Naruto was confused – why wasn't he dead? But then he heard a cough above him and something wet and warm land on his face, and he opened his eyes. They widened at the sight – Iruka-Sensei had taken the hit for him. Even Mizuki was surprised.

"Wha… Why?" Naruto asked.

Iruka took a shuddering breath. "Because…" he started, halting out of pain, "you and I are the same. When I lost my parents, no one seemed to care about me. They ignored me, they didn't have time for me, so I tried to draw as much attention as I could by doing crazy things. I became the class clown, so my grades went down, and eventually everything just fell apart around me." Naruto's face was no longer dry, as Iruka's tears of sadness and pain had started to fall on him.

"Ha!" Mizuki cried, "Don't make me laugh! Iruka will say anything to take the scroll away from you! He hasn't even told you the kicker – his parents died in the Kyuubi's attack! You killed Iruka's parents!"

This was the last straw for Naruto, and he immediately ran from the scene. He heard Iruka yell his name, but at the same time Naruto didn't hear it – his thoughts, his mind were whirling a mile a minute with everything he had learned, and so he panicked and did the one thing his mind commanded him to do.

He ran away.

…**ooOoo…**

"_He did what!?"_

The Jounin scoffed, not recognizing the danger in front of him – he must've been newly promoted. "Didn't you hear me?" he said, "That brat of yours stole the Scroll of Sealing from the Hogake's tower. The Lord Hokage has issued an order to all Jounin to track the kid down and recover the scroll, including you." The man chuckled, "Personally, I think the kid won't even make it back – he might have an _accident_ on the way back, if you get maaaaiiiiiiiiiiiiiiYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIIIIIIII!"

Anko made a mental note to try out this trick again soon – being bit in the balls by a snake, a _python_ to be exact, made men make the _loveliest_ of sounds. Anko smiled at the incapacitated jounin, who was still screaming in pain, the python still attached, and pulled out a knife, a _kunai_.

"Listen, asshole," said Anko, her smile still on her face, "I don't give a shit about how much pain you're in right now – it'll be the _least_ of your worries if a single _hair_ on Naruto is harmed. The only reason your balls are still _attached_ is because I have to find my son and beat the crap out of him for pulling this off and I don't have the time to actually _pull your balls off with a spoon._ That and you're not worth my time, neither mine _nor_ my original me. Spread the word – Naruto gets harmed, the Snake Mistress of Konoha is going to be on your asses like white on rice."

With that, the clone dispelled. Miles away, Anko Mitarashi scowled – that was the _fifth_ asshole that thought that they could get away with trying to burn Naruto in front of her. Seriously, what the hell happened to this generation that made them so _stupid_? Did their parents drop them when they were kids or something?

Anko shook her head – who cared about them anyways, when Naruto, _her Naruto_ was in danger? At this point she was going to go crazy(er) from all the worry the blonde-haired brat had put her through tonight alone.

Unfortunately, she had no idea where he was. The first place she had thought of was the Hokage Monument, but upon arriving it was painfully obvious that no one had been there in the past few days. That was when she had decided to make the clones and scatter them throughout the village, but so far, she hadn't been lucky.

Fortunately, or unfortunately, she had a backup plan. The problem was that the price for asking a certain individual for help was high, even for Anko. Not because she didn't like him – on the contrary, in the past she would've killed to be given a chance like this. Now, however, motherhood had forced her to mature, so she was above things like that. Motherhood had made her both more violent and yet more serene. Yet, she wouldn't have it any other way.

_Oh, Naruto…_ she thought, _the things I do for you._ She shook her head – honestly, she had no idea as to what to do with her son when she found him. Sure, punishment was appropriate, but another part of Anko could help but feel proud of him – it wasn't some random ninja who snuck into the Hokage's tower and made off with the Sacred Scroll of Sealing, it was Naruto Uzumaki who did it and managed to avoid the ANBU forces and every single Jounin in Konoha afterwards.

_But not for long,_ thought Anko, a lance of fear stabbing into her heart, _Dear Kami, please, don't let some random guy find him… don't let him get hurt._

It was that thought that made her decision – that and the memories of a _sixth_ clone dispelling after beating up another asshole for slandering Naruto. She grinned at the mental image received before changing directions in her run – she had a former ANBU to track down.

Funnily enough, it seemed as though the man himself had the same idea.

"You want to borrow Pakkun?"

Anko nodded. "To find Naruto before anyone else does, yes," she said. "He's in danger, Kakashi – the other jounin would harm him when or if they find him, and you _know_ they'll just use the Scroll of Sealing as an excuse. You have to help me, Kakashi." Anko leaned forward, giving the masked man a view of her cleavage. "Please?"

Kakashi closed his one visible eye and sighed. "There's no need for that, Anko," he said, "I'll help. It's why I was looking for _you._ Though I am a bit surprised that you thought that I _wouldn't_ help."

Anko smirked. "Oh, I knew you would help," she said, "I make you too nervous for that. I was just giving you a chance."

Kakashi shivered – that was close. "Still, you don't mind if I get something out of this, do you?" he asked with his trademark smile.

Anko's demeanor immediately changed before shaking her head. _For Naruto_, she thought. "Fine," she said, with a sigh, "what do you want?"

"Just for you to get a drink with later," he said, "for old times' sake."

Anko blinked – she could do that. After all, all he wanted was a drink, but the request didn't include what usually came after. "I can do that," she said. "So, Pakkun?"

Kakashi nodded, made a few hand signs she was familiar with, and with a small explosion, there stood (or sat, whichever) the pug tracker.

Anko immediately handed him one of Naruto's shirts, "Can you find him?"

Pakkun took one whiff. "I've got his scent," said the pug before he turned tail, "This way!"

…**ooOoo…**

He didn't know how long he ran. Later, all he would remember were the trees becoming a blur beneath his hands and feet. When he finally stopped running, he felt as if hours had passed, he was so tired, both emotionally and physically.

"Finally…" he gasped as he leaned his back against a thick tree, "I can get some rest. That was crazy." He slid down the tree's length until he was sitting on the ground, the scroll held protectively in his arms.

_Could it be true?_ Naruto thought as he started to recover, _Could the Nine-Tailed Fox really be sealed inside of me? It makes sense – all the looks, the hate… before mom, everything was just a mess. _Naruto remembered what he had read in the scroll. _The Reaper Death Seal requires the death of the caster to seal an immense being of power… The Fourth Hokage didn't die in battle – he died protecting Konoha from the Kyuubi._

Suddenly, the silence around him was shattered by a crash and two cries of pain. Naruto tensed, on edge once more as he attempted to peer from behind the tree.

"How did you know, Naruto?" came Iruka's voice. The boy in question paled, "How did you know-" There was the sound of a small explosion, "-that I wasn't Iruka?" Naruto realized what had happened – Mizuki had henged himself as Iruka-Sensei.

There was another small explosion. "Because I'm the real Iruka," came his teacher's labored voice.

Regardless of his doubts, Naruto couldn't help but strain his ears to listen into the conversation. "Why?" asked Mizuki, "Why do you keep defending that blonde brat? You of all people should understand why he deserves to die! He slaughtered your entire family!"

Iruka sighed. "Mizuki," said Iruka, "You're a Chūnin – you're no fool. You _know_ that when a Kunai is sealed into a scroll, the scroll doesn't become the knife. The Kyuubi is the Kunai, the knife, Mizuki, and Naruto is just the Scroll – he's no more of a demon than I. So no matter what you do or what you say, you're not getting your hands on that scroll."

"As if you could stop me," countered Mizuki, "Don't you get it? Naruto's just like me!"

Naruto unknowingly mirrored Iruka's frown. "How's that?" asked Iruka.

"He wants the scroll for his own power and his own vengeance," said Mizuki. "That's how beasts are, after all! He'll pour all his rage into the scroll and destroy everything!"

There was a moment of silence, before Iruka spoke once more: "You're right."

Naruto's eyes widened. Never would he have expected those two words to come out from Iruka's mouth. It proved everything that Mizuki had said – his sensei, like most of the people in Konoha, thought that he was a beast, some kind of frea-

"That is how beasts are," Iruka continued, oblivious of the blond boy's distress. "But that's not who Naruto is. I remember when he was younger, how much trouble he would cause with those pranks of his. I remember how everyone would jump on him – but that only made him stronger. His mother's helped him so much it's astounding – he pours his whole being into improving himself. Because _that's_ who he is – he's Naruto Uzumaki, of the Village Hidden in the Leaves. He's the adopted son of Anko Mitarashi, Snake Mistress of Konoha. He's the protégé of the Hokage himself. And he's the village's greatest hero simply because he protects us from the burden he carries – the Nine-Tailed Fox itself."

Naruto was in shock, tears running down his face and onto the scroll in his arms. _Iruka-Sensei…_ he thought, _Thank you. Thank you for believing in me._

"Ha!" laughed Mizuki, "You really believe all that drivel? Oh Iruka, I _was_ going to save you for later, but after hearing all that… well, I've changed my mind." The sound of a massive Shuriken being spun reached Naruto's ears, and his eyes widened. "Goodbye, Iruka!"

"NO!"

The surprise on Mizuki's face would be one of Naruto's favorite memories for years to come. The Jinchūriki of the Nine Tailed Fox had managed to reach Mizuki just as the white-haired ninja started to throw his Shuriken and had blocked it with a single Kunai, stopping its spin. He immediately followed up with a right cross to Mizuki's face, sending the ninja careening to the floor a few feet away.

"Impressive," said Mizuki, "for a little punk."

Naruto slung the scroll over his shoulder and looked down at Mizuki, his blue eyes cold and his hands in the pockets of his coat. "If you ever lay a hand on my Sensei ever again," he said, "_I will kill you._"

Mizuki scoffed, ignoring his instincts that warned him of danger and stood. "Such big words," he said, "but can you back them up? I can destroy you with a single move!"

Naruto smirked. "And I'll return them to you a thousand-fold, fool."

"Then _show me what you can do, Nine Tailed Fox!"_

Naruto's grin became feral. "With pleasure," he said, placing his hands in a seal. "_Ninja Style: Shadow Clone Jutsu!_"

There was a massive explosion of smoke, and when it cleared it revealed twenty perfectly formed clones surrounding Mizuki. Both of the Chūnin were wide-eyed at the implications – Illusions were one thing, but solid clones were on a whole other level. Naruto Uzumaki had mastered an extremely complicated jutsu in the span of a few hours, and looked like he could still dish out more.

Mizuki started to panic, and as one the clones smiled and drew out two kunai each. They started to spin the Kunai in opposite directions in one hand, creating a hypnotizing sound – a trick Mizuki had seen Anko Mitarashi use to intimidate others.

The problem was that it worked.

"So," said Mizuki, stupidly trying to bait Naruto, "taking lessons from that whore of a mother you have? After all, you two are so similar-"

BA-_crack_!

Mizuki flew forward from the intense blow to the back, and when he tried to pick himself up he howled in agony – his hands and feet had been stabbed into the ground, preventing movement. Looking up, another set of feet entered his vision – a final Naruto clone that had remained hidden behind Mizuki. And it's expression was mirrored by its brethren – pure, absolute _rage_ and _hate._

"I can take jabs at myself," Naruto said, his voice sending shivers of terror down Mizuki's spine. "I can understand that. I can see my Sensei be beat down – nobody's perfect and anyone can be surprised. But insulting my mother…" Naruto's eyes darkened. "You just crossed the line."

And as the clones started to approach Mizuki and the Chūnin started to scream in terror, Iruka smiled. _Yep,_ he thought to himself, _you deserve it Mizuki._

…**ooOoo…**

One extremely severe and painful beating later, an unrepentant Naruto stood over Mizuki's unconscious form. The Chūnin's body – if he even _deserved_ the title – was littered with bruises and cuts, with a couple of teeth laying around nearby. Iruka glanced at the unmoving Mizuki from his position and shivered – who knew that Naruto could be so _imaginative_ in his use of Kunai?

Then again, he _had_ been adopted by the Snake Mistress of Konoha.

"Don't you think you got a little carried away?" asked Iruka.

"No," came Naruto's flat answer. "No one gets away insulting my mother. She's done so much to help me… I know exactly how she feels when people talk like that behind her back." Turning away from Mizuki and towards Iruka, Naruto suddenly gave a chagrined grin and rubbed the back of his head. "Sorry, Iruka-Sensei, are you alright?" he asked, bending over and tying Mizuki's arms with some rope – where he got it from was beyond Iruka.

Iruka smiled. "Yeah," he said, "I'm alright… Come here for a minute. I've got something for you."

Frowning, Naruto moved forward and kneeled in front of his Sensei. "Close your eyes," said Iruka, and when Naruto did so, Iruka reached towards his own Forehead Protector and took it off before turning to the side with a smile. He held it out, and a strong, feminine callused hand came out and took it.

Naruto meanwhile, was frowning. "Sensei, what's going on?" he asked. When he felt something being placed on his forehead, he resisted the temptation of reaching up to find out what it was. "Sensei?" he asked.

"You can open your eyes, you little brat."

Naruto's eyes flew open at the familiar voice. "Mom?" he asked incredulously. Indeed, crouched next to his Sensei was Anko Mitarashi, his mother. She was smiling proudly at him, an expression mirrored by his teacher. Naruto flew forward and into her arms, relief crashing through his veins. "W-when did you get here?" asked Naruto, surprised.

"About a few minutes ago," she said, separating from him and holding at arms length by the shoulders. "I saw the end of your fight with Mizuki… I'm so proud of you, Naruto, and not because of some measly fight."

"What do you mean?" he asked.

Iruka chuckled. "Haven't you noticed?" he asked. "You passed, Naruto. Congratulations – you're now a Genin of the Village Hidden in the Leaves."

Naruto's eyes widened, and his hand flew to his forehead, feeling the metal plate attached to a blue cloth that was tied around his head.

"B-but I thought-!"

"That you weren't going to pass?" finished Iruka. "The only technique you couldn't do was the clone, Naruto, and you've more than made that up with the Shadow Clone Jutsu. On top of that, you've proven your capabilities by ousting a traitor, fighting and subduing him while protecting a valuable Scroll." Iruka glanced at Anko. "I think he deserves graduating, eh Miss Mitarashi?"

Anko laughed – not the crazy, insane laugh of the Snake Mistress of Konoha, but the warm, love filled laugh of the mother of Naruto Uzumaki. "Oh, I'd say he deserves his graduation," she said with a smile. However, the smile vanished and was replaced by a glare that sent shivers down her son's spine. "You're still in trouble, though."

Naruto's jaw dropped. "What!? Why!?"

Anko's expression became pensive. "Let's see – you snuck into the Hokage's tower, you stole the Forbidden Scroll of Sealing, you've driven me bat-shit crazy with worry, and on top of that, _you broke your curfew!_ Yes young man, you're definitely in trouble."

Naruto was gobsmacked – of all of the things to be in trouble for, breaking curfew was the worst? Next to Anko, Iruka was politely looking away but his shoulders were shaking with restrained laughter.

Naruto groaned. "This is so unfair," he said.

Anko rolled her eyes. "Welcome to the ninja world, brat," she said, her voice carrying no venom whatsoever, only fondness. She glanced at Mizuki – who was either still unconscious or pretending to be out of sheer terror – before looking at the injured Iruka. "Well, we'll discuss your punishment later," she said. Hugging him one last time before standing, she motioned for Naruto to do the same. "Honey, think you could make some clones to carry your Sensei and the traitor?" she asked.

Naruto smiled before making a single seal – the Clone Seal. "_Shadow Clone Jutsu_!" With a poof of smoke, three clones made their appearance. Two moved over to Iruka, slinging his arms over their shoulders and picking him up while the other walked over to Mizuki and unceremoniously dumped him over his shoulder. Even with the small action, Naruto couldn't help but feel proud of his accomplishment.

"Good job," said Anko. "Now let's get moving before someone else find us – I've gotten threats from some of the other Jonin." She scoffed as she drew a couple of Kunai, "Amateurs. Let's go."

With that, his mother jumped up and into the trees, hopping away from branch to branch. Scroll secured over his shoulder, Naruto and his clones followed with their cargo. Naruto wasn't as fast as his mother, so in the end it was nearly ten minutes later when they were out of the training ground they had been in. Anko didn't stop, running and jumping onto a nearby rooftop and heading towards the Hokage's Tower.

There was a puff of smoke, and a second Anko was running next to her. "Naruto!" yelled the original, "Follow the clone and take Iruka to the hospital while we drop off the Scroll and the traitor at the Hokage's Tower!"

"Yes mom!" answered the two clones and the original. After nodding his farewell to his Sensei, the clones carrying Iruka split off and followed his mother's clone towards the hospital. Assured that they were in safe hands, Naruto continued following his mother.

Meanwhile, most of the Jonin- and Chūnin-ranked ninjas of Konoha were gathered in front of the Hokage's tower.

"You mean no one can find Uzumaki?" asked one.

"It's like he's vanished!" answered another.

"We have to find him, we can't let him get away with that scroll!"

"There's no longer any need to worry." The gathered ninjas turned at the voice of Hiruzen Sarutobi, the third Hokage of Konohagakure, who was walking leisurely towards them with a smile and his pipe lit. "Everything has been taken care of. The Scroll is safe, and Naruto will be back soon."

"Lord Hokage, who found the boy?" asked a Jonin. "Will he be punished?"

"No, he won't," said Sarutobi. "It seems as though things are more complicated than they seem."

"What do you mean Lord Hokage? What happened?"

Sarutobi nodded at a spot above next to him. "Why don't you ask him?" he suggested. Sure enough, a moment later, Anko, Naruto, and the clone carrying Mizuki landed in the designated spot and promptly kneeled.

Before any of the ninjas could protest at Mizuki's condition, Sarutobi spoke. "Well Naruto? Could you explain what happened?"

Naruto nodded from his position. "Sure, Ol- uh, Lord Hokage," he said, hoping no one noticed his slip of the tongue. "Mizuki tricked me into stealing the Scroll. Iruka-Sensei found me before Mizuki did, but was injured – my clones took him to the hospital already. Mizuki tried to take the Scroll from me, but I managed to surprise him and take him down." Naruto unslung the Forbidden Scroll of Sealing from his shoulder and presented it to the Hokage. "I ask for your mercy, Lord Hokage – I've committed a crime against the Village Hidden in the Leaves, and as such deserve to be punished accordingly."

Mixed reactions met his statement – his mother's shoulders stiffened, while most of the Jonins either muttered their assent or gave no opinion whatsoever. Sarutobi for his part continued to smile down at Naruto before taking the Scroll.

"You have already atoned for your crime, Naruto Uzumaki," he said, "by successfully preventing the Scroll from leaving the Village, and by apprehending the traitor Mizuki. You're free to go. However, I want you to come to my office tomorrow or later today and submit a written account of the events."

"Yes, Lord Hokage," answered Naruto with a grateful smile. True, he wasn't overly worried that the Old Man was going to condemn him or anything like that, but at the end of the day the Hokage had to put the village first.

"You're dismissed," said Sarutobi. "You as well, Miss Mitarashi – the same orders apply to you."

"Of course, Lord Hokage," said Anko as she and Naruto stood. Next to him, the clone carrying Mizuki dispelled, dumping the traitor onto the ground as it did so.

Naruto winced. "Oops," he said.

Sarutobi chuckled, and with that, Naruto and Anko left the same way they arrived even as the ninjas started to protest the Hokage's decision. Ironically enough, all conversations were halted when Mizuki let out a groan and sat up.

"What happened?" he asked, rubbing his head. When he was met with silence, he opened his eyes and froze when he saw the Hokage standing in front of him.

Hiruzen wasn't smiling anymore.

…**ooOoo…**

"Ah, good times," Naruto says.

"How so?" asks Inoichi.

"They were simpler," came the answer. "Not as much fighting, no threats of war, that kind of thing." Naruto sighs. "Still, I have to admit that I don't regret a single thing – I'd do everything the exact same way."

"That's mature of you," comments Inoichi. There is a sound of cloth rustling against skin, followed by the scraping of a chair against a stone floor. "Well, it's late, and prolonged use of the Jutsu would be harmful to the both of us. We'll finish this tomorrow."

"But the trial's in three days!" Naruto protested. "What we saw today was just me becoming a ninja and it took us over four hours to cover that! How are we going to cover almost three years' worth of memories in a day?"

"We're not," said Inoichi, "but you will. You'll have to relive the events yourself, starting from where we stopped. In the meantime you'll stay here while you do that – we can't risk any mental tampering. Are you in agreement."

"Yes, sir."

"Good. In that case, I'll see you tomorrow. Goodnight, Naruto."

A metallic door is heard opening and closing, and Naruto sighs as he too stands. "Huh… he left the recorder… might as well use it." Various sounds make their mark before the distinctive sound of springs and a mattress stretching are heard. "Ok, so where do I start… after my impromptu graduation, I rested during the weekend, and on Monday, I went back to the Academy to formerly become a part of Team 7…"

…**ooOoo…**

**And so it begins.**


	2. The Requiem of Team Seven

**Well, judging from all of the favorite and follower alerts that I've been getting, I guess its safe to say that this story has some **_**very**_** good potential! Thanks for your support! Don't be afraid to review!**

**PS: For Naruto's "Snake Style Stance," look up Zed from League of Legends. His idle posture is the one I based it on.**

Arc I – The Times before Seven

Chapter 2 – The Requiem of Team Seven

The skies were shining, the birds were singing, the people were laughing happily, and our blonde-haired Shinobi hero was enjoying the day… by snoring it away.

A poem worthy of a Pulitzer award. Or whatever it was that was given to poems.

This of course, ended quickly when one of Naruto's ears twitched. Immediately he flipped out of the futon bed he was laying on and stabbed the small rattlesnake that was approaching said bed with the intent to wake the boy up. Of course, since it never got there, the snake was forced to dispel – a Kunai to the head tended to ensure that type of result.

Naruto shook his head at his mother's "alarm clock." It had all started when the blonde wouldn't wake up at the sound of the normal alarm clock, so Anko had come up with the idea of setting a small non-venomous Scarlet Snake on him to wake him up. It worked, of course, but some might complain that it was rather… radical. Then again, what Naruto now knew as the Kyuubi's chakra tended to heal him before he'd even finish dressing – not that he knew that then – so it wasn't like he was being injured much. To think that before Anko had adopted him he hadn't been such a deep sleeper…

Shaking his head once more, Naruto glanced at the calendar and grinned. Today was the day that he was going to be assigned to a Genin team. Hopefully he'd be partnered with Sakura and Sasuke, but the rumors were that the best ninja and the best Kunoichi were usually partnered with the "dead last" of the class.

Thinking about his two friends made Naruto bite his lip in worry – he'd avoided them during the whole weekend, wanting to surprise the two with the fact that he graduated. The incident with Mizuki had been three days prior, on Friday – today was Monday. Granted, he a valid excuse, as the day after his impromptu graduation, Naruto had collapsed into his bed and slept all the way till Sunday – according to his mother, he'd exhausted his chakra reserves out of sheer stress and training. And when he woke up he'd been forced to turn in his report to the Hokage, as well as take his photo for his ninja ID. Then he'd met Konohamaru, Hiruzen Sarutobi's grandson, and things just went from there.

Yes, he'd had a busy weekend.

"Naruto!" came Anko's voice, "Hurry up, you're going to be late!"

"Coming mom!"

Nearly ten minutes later, Naruto emerged from his room in his classical ninja attire – blue ninja pants, white long-sleeved t-shirt, black ninja sandals, shin guards, and a grey trench coat on top of it all. The only difference today was the addition of his Hitae-Ate onto his forehead, proudly announcing his allegiance to the Village Hidden in the Leaves.

Not missing a beat, Naruto ducked the Kunai sent his way, countering with a knife of his own, which his mother proceeded to catch and use to cut some slices of bread. Task done, his mother flashed him an amused smile.

"Any slower and you'd be dead," she said fondly.

"Nah, you wouldn't kill me," countered Naruto, "you'd miss me too much. Besides, your scarlet friend does a better job at getting rid of me than you do."

"Uh-huh," came the answer, "leave your coat on the floor again and we'll see if I don't get rid of you." Turning, she placed a plate of their usual breakfast – rolled omelet, fermented beans, steamed rice and Miso soup – on the table. "Eat up."

Naruto looked at her, surprised. "You're not staying?" he asked.

"Sorry honey, but something's popped up at T&I," said Anko with a frown. Going around the table, she planted a kiss on Naruto's cheek. "I wish I could drop you off at the Academy just because – it's an important day for you after all – but this is pretty important."

Naruto smiled at her. "It's ok, mom," he said, "I'll tell you everything when you get back."

Anko returned his smile before heading towards the door that led out of the apartment. "In that case, I better get moving," she said, "Don't forget to lock when you leave! Good luck, and bring your new teammates for lunch! Love you!"

With that, the door closed, and Naruto was left alone. Raising his chopsticks, he muttered an, "Itadakimasu" before digging into his meal. For once, however, his mind wasn't on the food – rather, it was on the events that were to occur, his mother, his tenant…

Naruto winced at the reminder of _that_ conversation. His mother had confessed at knowing about the Kyuubi's existence, something that at first had angered Naruto – why would she keep something like this from him? In his anger, Naruto had been reminded of what Mizuki had said – that his mother had lied to him, like the rest of the village, and he'd accused her of it.

"_You're right, Naruto, I _did_ lie. I lied because the Hokage had classified the Kyuubi's sealing as an S-rank secret, punishable by death. But more importantly, I lied because I love you, Naruto, and I couldn't bear to place such a burden on you. I know that it hurt, not knowing, but I knew that knowing would've been much worse – you were too young. Now… now you've matured. You've grown. So much. And I'm proud of you – proud for protecting this village everyday of your life just by breathing. You are Naruto Uzumaki, Jinchūriki of the Nine-Tailed Fox, and you're a hero. But more importantly, _you are my son_, and I would _never_ hurt you intentionally without reason."_

Yeah, he'd been angry, but those words were proof – proof that Mizuki was lying, that he wasn't a demon, proof that every judgmental citizen in Konoha needed to have their heads checked. Naruto's chest was filled with warmth at the memory, and he smiled softly – he was one lucky kid. He barely remembered his life before Anko had adopted him. Now, he had a mother that loved him, a grandfather figure that inspired him, and friends that respected him.

Breakfast done, Naruto cleaned the dishes before brushing his teeth and leaving the apartment. A few blocks away from the building he was about to turn back – he'd forgotten to lock the door _again_ – but then he grinned before placing his hands in a seal.

"_Shadow Clone Jutsu!"_

A poof of smoke later, the shadow clone was headed back, and Naruto kept walking towards the academy, this time with his hands intertwined behind his head. Unfortunately, he was distracted once more when he was walking between two buildings. He noticed a cloth the same color of one of said buildings being held up by a pair of hands; worst still was the fact that the cloth didn't make it to the bottom, so the "ambusher's" feet were visible as well. Naruto sighed, and immediately the cloth was dropped.

"You're mine Naruto!" yelled Konohamaru Sarutobi, charging at the blonde – only to trip over the same cloth that he'd been hiding behind.

Naruto's face was impassive, but inside he was snickering at the sound of the boy's face hitting the ground. "What do you think you're doing, Konohamaru?" asked Naruto.

"That was a slick move, Naruto," said the boy, ignoring the question. "That why I respect you as a rival."

A moment of silence. "But I didn't do anything," said Naruto.

Konohamaru stood and placed his hands in a seal. "All right, then fight me fair and square!"

"Can't," said Naruto, "I've got an orientation."

Konohamaru's eyes widened. "Orientation?" he asked.

"Yeah," answered Naruto with a grin, "I'm getting my team assignment, because as of today, I'm a ninja, believe it!"

Somehow, the younger boys eyes widened further at the sight of the Hitae-Ate on Naruto's forehead. "Whoa…"

"Yep," he said, "Which is why I have to go. See you later Konohamaru!" With that the blonde Shinobi walked away, leaving the boy in the street.

"See you later, boss!"

Naruto smiled. Somehow, he didn't find Konohamaru's presence annoying – if anything it reminded Naruto of how he used to be, how he used to act. Naruto shook his head in amusement before picking up the pace – he was cutting it close, but he'd make it to the Academy in time as long as nothing out of the norm happened.

As if mocking him, Murphy's Law came into effect.

Naruto was drawn out of his thoughts by a strange rumbling. He looked around, confused and looking for a stampede large enough to make the noise when caught sight of a cloud of dust. He frowned, trying to get a clearer look while subtly digging into one of his coat's pockets for a Kunai. The closer the dust cloud got, the more details he could pick out, like the pink and red colors on one side and what looked like blonde on the other…

Naruto's eyes widened.

"Sakura, Ino, wait, stooooaaaAAAAAAAAAAA!"

Typical. He didn't know how, but somehow the few times – read: almost every day – that the two girls would manage to barrel him over he would be sent flying into the air. And every time that it happened, it was always in a different direction. He'd fallen into Training Ground 44 once, and that was in the opposite direction of the Academy – needless to say, he hadn't shown up for class that day. So, like every other time he'd flown by Fangirl Airlines, he hunkered down and started praying that he would land somewhere close by to the Academy.

One crash and cloud of dust later, Naruto picked himself up and started brushing himself off while looking around in surprise – fate was looking out for him that day, as he'd landed right in the Academy training grounds.

"Thank Kami," he said out loud, "I don't think I could've handled another trip into the Forest of Death."

Shaking his head, he walked around the academy building before spotting his classroom window, which was thankfully open. Grinning, he jumped up, grabbed hold of the railing and slung himself up and through the window, landing next to an occupied desk.

Said occupant glanced at him before returning his gaze to the front, only to make a double take.

"Naruto!?" asked Sasuke, surprised. "What are you doing here?"

Naruto grinned at his friend. "I graduated," he said simply, pointing at his headband, "Can't you see? Open your eyes, Sasuke, this is a regulation headband!"

Sasuke blinked before shaking his head. "I'm not going to even ask," he said. "Have you told Sakura yet?"

Naruto scoffed as he sat down next to his friend's left side. "Nah, she was too busy running me over and competing with Ino over who gets here first."

Sasuke snickered. "I still can't believe that you're always run over by those two," he said, "Haven't you tried going by another route or something?"

Naruto glared at him. "Yeah I have! Remember the time that I went to your house first? They ran us _both_ over that time!"

Of course, in that case they'd stopped – Ino to apologize to her "beloved" Sasuke while Sakura chewed Naruto out for tripping her over and making her look like a fangirl.

Sasuke shivered at the memory – Ino had insisted on hanging off of his arm the entire walk to the Academy while Sakura had glared at the both of them. "Point taken," he said, before cocking his head to the side. "Speak of the devil…" he muttered, looking at the door to the classroom and prompting Naruto to do the same.

The rumbling had started again.

"Incoming!" yelled a random boy, and immediately the doorway was crowded with a bunch of girls trying to gain entry before any of the others, Ino included. There was pushing, hair-pulling, punching, screaming, all just to get to the one unoccupied seat next to Sasuke. Ironically, the seat was taken a few seconds later by a pink haired Kunoichi.

"Amateurs," Sakura Haruno grinned at Sasuke.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "Hello Sakura," he said, "You know, they seem more… rabid today."

"For all intents and purposes, it's our last day here," she said. "Therefore it's their last chance at sitting next to you – not that they'll ever get that chance now."

Naruto chuckled. "How'd you get passed them?"

Sakura's eyes widened at the sight of the blonde Shinobi on Sasuke's other side before she smiled. "Naruto!" she said. "You're here! And you graduated! What happened? How'd you pass? Oh, and I used the second doorway to get in."

Naruto smiled. "You're right, they are amateurs," he said. "And I graduated by learning another Clone technique to replace the Genjutsu Clone – the Shadow Clone Jutsu."

"Shadow Clone?" asked Sakura, curiosity in her voice. "I've never heard of it before. Where'd you learn it?"

Naruto shook his head. "Not here," he said, "I'll tell you later. Blonde incoming, two o'clock."

"Hey forehead!" came the voice of Ino Yamanaka. "You're in my seat!"

"Beat it, Ino, I got here first!" said Sakura.

"Well, I was here before either of you, so it's _my_ seat!" yelled another random Kunoichi. Unfortunately that was just the catalyst, as the room descended into chaos with most of the girls fighting over the seat, which was _still_ taken by Sakura. Sasuke and Naruto glanced at each other before shaking their heads – it was painfully obvious that most, if not all of the girls involved wouldn't make it past their first mission if they didn't change their way of thinking.

Sakura, ignoring most of the yelling of the various Kunoichi's arguing over the seat, turned to Sasuke and Naruto. They talked about mostly trivial things – Anko's reaction to Naruto's failing, the pride Sakura's parents had when Sakura came home with her headband, Sasuke's stubbornness when it came to fun, and finally their team arrangements.

"I think I have an idea as to how we're going to be placed," said Sasuke.

Sakura looked surprised. "What do you mean?" she asked. "Isn't that supposed to be a secret?"

Naruto gave Sasuke a curious look. "Yeah, how do you know?" he asked, "I mean, not even my mother would tell me, how do you know?"

It was here that Sasuke adopted an expression that was rarely worn by the Uchiha – embarrassment. "Well…" he cleared his throat. "I asked around, and well, being the last Uchiha and all, I figured that no one would really deny that information, you know? So I met this Kunoichi-"

"You _what!?_"

Sasuke winced. "Sakura, calm down!" he said, "It was nothing, just an innocent question! Anyways, she told me that-"

"Settle down, class!" Sasuke growled as he was interrupted once more, but this time by Iruka Umino. When everybody sat down and was quite, Iruka started to speak, "Before I give you your team assignments, I'd like to say something – a last piece of advice, if you will.

"As of today, you are all ninjas, and to get here you had to face difficult trials and hardships. But unfortunately, that's nothing – what comes next will be far more difficult. Now, you are all only Genin, First Level Ninjas. As you all know, all the Genin will be grouped into three-man squads, and each squad will be led by a Jonin, an elite ninja."

Behind Sakura, Ino grinned. "Well someone's gonna be in Sasuke's group," she whispered to Sakura, "I wonder who?"

Sounding nonchalant, Sakura gave her answer, "I don't know." Internally however, she was screaming something along the lines of _Cha! I'm going to be with Sasuke, so stay away from him you hag!_

Even though she wasn't a fangirl anymore, Sakura was still rather… possessive when it came to Sasuke. Not that the Uchiha knew, of course – somehow, she'd convinced him that she was protecting him from the fan girls. Which she did anyways, just for her own gain.

Meanwhile, Iruka kept talking. "We want each squad to have a balance of strengths and abilities, so that's how we set them up. And now, I will now announce the squads. Squad One, consisting of…"

And so it went. Squad 1 was filled with Genin with civilian parents, as were squads 2 to 5. Squad 6 was still in circulation, so Iruka skipped to squad 7.

"Team Seven!" announced Iruka, "Sasuke Uchiha!"

Sasuke looked up, his gaze riveted on Iruka.

"Sakura Haruno!"

The pinkette gave an internal victory dance while grinning at Sasuke, even as Ino started to growl. Naruto crossed his fingers.

"And finally, Kiba…" Naruto slumped over, and Sakura and Sasuke were about to console him, when out of nowhere…

"Oh, sorry, never mind," said Iruka, looking bashful, "My mistake. Team Seven's final member is Naruto Uzumaki!"

Naruto gasped, even as a chorus of angels started to sing. He turned towards his friends – and now teammates – and grinned at them with a thumbs up. Sakura smiled back at him, while the normally stoic Sasuke spared him a victorious smile.

"Wait a second!" yelled Ino, "How does Naruto get to be in a squad with Sasuke!? He failed the graduation exam!"

Iruka gave her a deadpan stare. "No offence to Naruto, but that's exactly why he's being placed in Team Seven," he said. The rest of the kids laughed, but Naruto brushed them off – he'd gotten a _way_ cooler graduation exam. "Sasuke and Sakura had the best scores of all the graduating students, but Naruto had the worst scores. So, to create a balanced team, we put the two best students, with the worst student. This is done in hopes of the two more advanced students helping out their comrade.

"Now, returning to squad assignments," he said, "Team Eight: Hinata Hyuuga, Kiba Inuzuka, and Shino Aburame. Team Nine is still in circulation, so we'll skip to Team Ten: Ino Yamanaka, Shikamaru Nara, and Choji Akimichi. Those are all the squads, so after lunch you'll meet your new Jonin Sensei, your new teacher. Until then, class dismissed."

Immediately, everyone started to stand and look for their team members while heading out of the classroom. In the row behind them, Naruto snickered at the sounds of Ino and Shikamaru's arguing – apparently the platinum blonde was still upset over the fact that she wasn't in a team with her precious Sasuke.

"So, do we head outside, or do we stay here for lunch?" asked Sakura.

"Might as well head outside," said Naruto, shrugging. "I mean, it's not like we need to get to know each other, so I guess we can do whatever we want. Besides, my mom told me to bring my new teammates over for lunch – you guys up for it?"

Sasuke shrugged, as unemotional as ever. "Hm," was all he said.

"Well, he agrees," said Naruto. "Sakura?"

"Ok!" she said, "Where are we going, your apartment?"

Naruto shook his head. "Nah, Ichiraku's closer," he said. It wasn't uncommon to see him and his mother having lunch there since it was the more convenient option for both of them – according to Anko it was closer to Konoha's Interrogation Division than going home. There was a dango shop close by as well, so that helped with making both mother and son happy with the arrangement.

"Let's go then," said Sasuke, standing up. Naruto and Sakura did the same, following him out the classroom door and out of the Academy.

And yet, Team Seven was missing something.

…**ooOoo…**

"Hey Teuchi! Hi Ayame!" called Naruto as he stepped under the tarp that said _Ichiraku Ramen_.

"Naruto!" The old man grinned at seeing his favorite customer. "Haven't seen you here for a few days. Where've you been?"

Naruto shrugged. "I've been busy," he said, bashful. "I mean, I graduated last week you know. I'm a genin now, believe it!"

"So you are," said an impressed Ayame. While Anko was Naruto's adoptive mother, Ayame was his adoptive sister of sorts. "Congratulations, Naruto! You two, Sasuke, Sakura!"

"Thanks," said Sakura with a smile. "We've been placed in the same team together. We're just waiting for Miss Mitarashi to celebrate."

"Oh really?" Teuchi asked. "Well, I guess the first bowls' on the house then!"

"Oh, no, really, there's no need-"

Teuchi held a hand up. "I insist, and there's no changing my mind," he said. Nodding at his daughter, they immediately got to work. "So what'll it be?" he asked.

"Miso Ramen, for me please!" said Naruto.

"The same," said Sasuke.

"I'm going to wait for your mom, Naruto," said Sakura. "No offense, but…"

"You like Dango better than Ramen," finished the blonde. "Don't worry about it Sakura. I'm sure my mom's on her way already!"

"She's already here!" Naruto and his friends jumped at the sound of Anko Mitarashi's voice, who laughed lightly at the reaction she caused. She was carrying two boxes from the Dango shop close by, one of which she handed to Sakura. "One order of Dango and red beans! I got it right this time, right?"

Sakura grinned. "Thank you, Miss Mitarashi, but you didn't really have to-"

"Oh, there's no need to worry," she said, waving a dismissive hand. "Hello Teuchi, Ayame." After greetings were exchanged, the four Shinobi sat down at the seats available at the stand. Anko was a little more than surprised when Naruto gave her the news.

"Get out of here!" she exclaimed. "All three of you were placed in the same team?"

"Yep, believe it!" exclaimed Naruto, "Pretty cool right?"

"Well, it certainly is convenient," his mother admitted. "The fact that you three already know each other well, and that you've trained together as well gives you an element of teamwork other teams might not yet have. It's probably one of the main reasons you three were placed together."

"Iruka-Sensei said that the teams were assigned to balance out each other's skills," said Sakura, "but we're Academy Level ninja, we don't really have that many skills to begin with, how are we supposed to balance each other out?"

"Because you don't have those skills yet," said Anko. "I know for a fact that three Jutsu you're tested on – the Replacement, the Clone, and the Transformation Jutsu – can be used to evaluate certain aspects of each ninja. For example, the Transformation Jutsu expresses the ninja's attention to detail – the more attention the ninja pays to the object or person he or she is transforming into, the better that the Henge is."

Sakura's eyes widened in realization. "Oh, I get it!" she said. "So the Clone Jutsu evaluates Chakra control, and the Replacement Jutsu evaluates… what?"

"Creativity. Some ninja replace themselves with the common log. Others use chairs, rocks, and even other people. I for one replaced myself with one of my classmates' pants – I was aiming for his desk. In the end it was a pretty embarrassing situation for everybody." She chuckled along with the genin, before asking a question of her own. "So, who's your new Sensei?"

Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura glanced at each other. "We thought you would know," said Sakura.

"Yeah, you're a Jonin too, shouldn't you know who our new teacher is?" added Naruto.

"Tokubetsu Jonin, Naruto," Anko corrected him.

"What's the difference?" asked Sasuke, speaking up for the first time.

"As you know, a Jonin is a generally highly-experienced shinobi with great individual skill who serve as military captains. Jonin usually have above average skills, like the ability to use at least two types of elemental chakra, some genjutsu, and above average taijutsu skills. Tokubetsu Jonin, however, are Shinobi who have Jonin-level skills only in a specialized area. In my case, I have specialized tracking and infiltration skills – basically, I'm Chūnin that's good at spying."

"Then why do you work at the T&I Division?" asked Sakura, confused. "That's Torture and Interrogation, right?"

Anko shrugged. "I'm good at that too, and it helps that the pay is good. Besides, it's in Konoha and doesn't require any travel outside the village – a plus when you're raising a brat."

Naruto face vaulted off of his stool as his teammates snickered. "Anyways, being a Tokubetsu Jonin doesn't give me full rights to information like that, since I'm still technically a Chūnin. So no, I don't know who your Sensei will be," she said. "I will say this though – I pity the poor bastard who gets saddled with you three."

Anko snickered at the looks the three genin were giving her, something that Ayame and Teuchi mirrored, and the conversation moved from there. Eventually however, the younger Shinobi's lunch hour ended and they were forced to part with Anko and began to walk back to the Academy. However, when they finally arrived they were called back.

"Naruto! Sasuke! Sakura!"

The three of them turned, their eyes landing on Naruto's mother, who had an uncommonly serious expression on her face. "I just wanted to say one last thing," she said, "Remember something – regardless of your graduation a few days ago, and no matter what happens after today, you are always, first and foremost, a team. You watch each other's backs, and you trust each other to do so. You will train together, you will work together, you will bleed together – and if you do all of that, then I promise you that _you will_ _succeed together_. I see you three, and instead of three kids, I see second coming of the three Sages. You have potential, but only if you work together. In this world, there are no lone wolves – only packs. Am I understood?"

"Hai," they chorused, and Anko smiled.

"Good," she said, before giving them a sad smile. "You three will go far, I know it. Good luck." Placing her hands in a seal, she vanished in a whirlwind of leaves.

Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura stood there for a few moments before turning around and walking back into the academy, though with a more serious demeanor. They didn't say a word as they did so either – not when they entered their classroom, not when they sat down, and not when the other students started to come in as well. It wasn't until the first Jounin sensei came in to pick up their team that they actually made any sign of life.

"That was…" started Naruto.

"Enlightening?" suggested Sakura when he didn't finish. "Inspiring? Encouraging?"

"Boring," finished the blonde with a deadpan expression. When his two companions facepalmed, he smiled mischievously at their reactions before frowning. "Jokes aside though, she's right," he said.

"Mothers are always right," said Sakura, and Naruto glared at her.

"Oh, you know what I mean," he said.

"I do," said Sakura with a nod. "Which is why I want to say that no matter what happens in the future, I promise to train my butt off every day so that I can protect the two of you from that terrible world out there."

As another team left the room, Naruto looked like he'd been slapped while Sasuke just snickered. That is, of course, until Naruto gave them an evil smile.

"Well, I'm sure that dear _Sa-su-ke_ wouldn't mind being saved by you, Sakura," he said. The pink haired girl blushed while Sasuke glared. It was a rather taboo subject between the three that Sakura had – read: has – a major crush on her new teammate, but at the same time, it was rather obvious to Naruto that Sasuke felt the same way, even if the dark-haired Shinobi didn't show it. It was rather ironic, he figured, that both liked the other and didn't know about each other's feelings.

Oh well, that just meant more fun for him.

"Shut up, Naruto," said his teammates together, before glancing at each other in surprise. Sakura for her part blushed even harder while Sasuke just huffed.

_Oh yeah,_ thought Naruto, _they have it _bad_ for each other._ Smirking in success, the blonde leaned back in his chair as he and his teammates settled in for a wait.

…**ooOoo…**

Of course, they never expected to wait _this_ long.

"Where the heck _is _he!?" snarled Naruto as he peered in both directions, his head stuck outside the classroom door.

"Don't you think that if I knew, we'd have met by now?" retorted Sakura. "Come on, Naruto, just sit down already! Seriously, I haven't seen you this hyperactive since we were younger!"

Naruto glared at her, closing the door behind him. "Can you blame me?" he asked. "We've been waiting for three hours. _Three hours! _Even Sasuke's irritated, look at him!"

Simultaneously, the blonde and pinkette glanced at their relaxed teammate, who was looking at Naruto with a raised eyebrow. "Naruto," he said, "could you please shut up and take your turn?"

Naruto looked back at Sakura. "See?" he said, picking a card out of the hand in his hand. With a twitch of his wrist, he sent it spinning through the air like a shuriken, its flight stopped when one of the corners was embedded into the table where the rest of the ninja playing cards laid. Sakura sighed, picking the card up and putting it along with the rest of the discarded ones before throwing another back to Naruto from the deck. Naruto caught it and glanced at it once before grinning.

"I win!" he said, throwing all three cards in his hand at the table, where they smoothly landed face-up and showing a meld of three subsequent numbers of the same suite – the Jack, Queen and King of Spades.

Sakura groaned. "Ok, now I'm mad," she said, throwing her remaining cards on the table. "Our sensei has taken so long that Naruto's been able to beat us ten times in a row! Seriously, what is _up_ with that guy?"

Sasuke gave her a deadpan expression as he picked up the cards. "Well, it was _your _idea," he said, shuffling the cards and dealing them.

"Not helping, Sasuke."

"Hm."

"He's right," Naruto agreed.

"Shut up, Naruto."

The blonde snickered as he removed one card from his hand, passing it to Sasuke and taking the one Sakura gave him. It was then when he _truly_ looked at his hand. He frowned.

_Not a single meld, not even with the King of Spades I got from Sakura…_

"Uh, guys?" said Sakura, "I don't really believe in omens, but…" She shrugged before setting down _her entire hand_ – from the one to the nine of Hearts. The three members of team seven glanced at each other worriedly before looking at the classroom door as one – just as a gloved hand opened it from the outside.

The man who stepped in was definitely notable, with his spiky silver hair, face mask covering his jaw and mouth and forehead protector covering his left eye. The jounin was dressed in the standard ninja attire – blue shinobi pants and shirt with a Chūnin flak jacket, as well as ninja sandals and a utensil bag tied to his right leg.

The jounin's only visible eye observed the three genin with a lazy gaze. After a few moments, he spoke: "My first impression of you three is… you're alright."

Naruto blinked, glancing at his comrades for their reactions. Sakura beamed at the praise, while Sasuke was… being Sasuke.

"Anyways, meet me on the Academy roof," he said. "We'll make our introductions up there." With that, the man vanished in a swirl of leaves.

"All right!" said Naruto with a grin as he picked up the cards and sealed them back into the scroll he carried with him. "Come on guys, let's go!"

"Naruto, wait!" Sakura yelled, but the blonde had already ran out of the classroom, coat billowing behind him. "Ugh, that idiot… he's going in the wrong direction."

"Serves him right," said Sasuke. Standing, he opened one of the classroom windows and held out his hand. "After you," he said. _What the hell am I doing!?_ he thought to himself.

"Why thank you, kind sir," she said with a smile as she took his hand and jumped out the window. Internally, she was fighting back a blush while her mind screamed something along the lines of, _Such a gentleman! Ka-ching, true love conquers all!_

After Sasuke joined her, they walked around the Academy building, heading for the back wall where various hand- and footholds were carved into the wall. It was child's play to quickly climb up to the roof so fast that to a civilian they would've looked like blurs. When they reached the top, they were greeted with the visage reading an orange book while leaning on the railing opposite them.

"Ah, there you are!" said their sensei while putting the book away. "But where's your third member?"

Sakura rolled her eyes. "He'll be here," she said. As if waiting for her acknowledgement, the Uzumaki in question jumped over the same railing their Sensei was leaning on.

"Sorry I'm late," he said, offering no explanation as to why he was late. Sakura and Sasuke glanced at each other with a smirk as Naruto joined them.

"It's no problem," said the jounin. "Now then, why don't you introduce yourselves?"

Naruto blinked. "Umm, what should we say?" he asked.

"Well, your name, your likes, your dislikes, your hobbies, dreams, that sort of thing."

"How about you go first so that we have an idea?" asked Sakura.

The Jounin shrugged. "Alright," he said, "My name is Kakashi Hatake. What I like… I don't feel like telling you that." Naruto's and Sakura's expressions fell. "I don't really dislike that many things. Hobbies… I don't feel like telling you that either. As for dreams… hmm, I haven't really thought about that."

_Wow,_ thought Naruto, _the only useful thing we learned was his name… and I'm pretty sure that I've heard of him before. Maybe mom knows something…_

"So, now you know how to do it," Kakashi said, "Now it's your turn. How about you start, blondie?"

Naruto glared at him. "First of all, my name's Naruto Uzumaki or Naruto Mitarashi, whichever suits the situation best," he said. "I like a lot of things, but above all things I like Ramen and spending time with my friends and mother as well as training with them. Things that I don't like include, but are not limited to sake, the three minutes it takes for instant Ramen to cook, and people that belittle others for no obvious reasons or stupid reasons. Hobbies… I guess training and spending time with my friends are my hobbies. Oh, and my gardening. My dream is to become the greatest ninja in the village by taking up the Hokage post, maybe as Godaime or Rukodaime."

"Not bad goals," said Kakashi. "How about you pinky?"

Like Naruto, Sakura glared at their Sensei. "My name is Sakura Haruno," she said. "I like my friends and training, and I don't like Ino Yamanaka and her attitude. I don't really have that many hobbies, and my dream is to become the strongest Kunoichi in the village." Sasuke didn't know, but Naruto knew that what came next was, "_so that I can impress a certain someone."_

"Hmm… I can work with that," said Kakashi before turning towards Sasuke. "And you?"

Sasuke had his eyes closed, his hands intertwined and covering his mouth. "My name is Sasuke Uchiha. I like training with my friends, but I don't like a lot of things. What I have is not a dream, because I _will_ make it a reality – I'm going to restore my clan."

"Hmm…" was all Kakashi said. _Well, there's no doubt that these three have their heads on straight. The Uchiha might have problems, but they seem to be balanced out with his teammates' presence and friendship. I'm surprised though… one would think that revenge against Itachi would be a priority. If they pass the test, I have a feeling that these three will go far._ "Good," said Kakashi, "you're each unique and you have your own ideas. I can also tell that you three are used to working together – that'll save us a lot of time when it comes to training. So, we'll have our first mission tomorrow."

Naruto grinned. "What kind of mission are we going to have, Kakashi-Sensei?" he asked.

"A task that the four of us will do together," answered the Jonin. "A survival exercise."

"A survival exercise?" asked Naruto confused.

"I thought we were going to have a real mission, not more practice" protested Sakura, "We already did these kind of things at the Academy, that's why we're here!"

"This is not like your previous training," Kakashi refuted.

"Then what kind of training is it?" asked Naruto, but Kakashi chuckled.

"Well, you won't like the answer," he said, "You see, out of the twenty-seven graduates that managed to pass, only nine will be accepted as genin. The other eighteen will be weeded out and sent back to the Academy. In other words, this is a make-it or break-it, pass/fail test, and your chances of failure are of at least sixty-six percent."

The three not-genin had varying reactions – Naruto's jaw dropped, Sakura looked like she was going to be ill, and Sasuke… didn't react much except for a twitch in his eye.

Kakashi chuckled at their reactions. "See?" he said, "I told you you wouldn't like the answer."

"Then what's the graduation exam for?" asked Naruto, incredulous.

"Oh that? That was just to select the candidates that _might_ become genin," said Kakashi, "or not. That's how it is. I decide whether you pass or fail, so tomorrow be at the designated training area – training ground seven if you didn't know – at five am, and bring your ninja gear." With that, Kakashi turned to leave. "That's it, your dismissed," he said, but he turned around again. "Oh, I almost forgot. Tomorrow you better skip breakfast or else… you'll puke."

None of the three friends liked the sound of that.

…**ooOoo…**

"_Kakashi Hatake!?_ Your Sensei is _Copy-Cat Kakashi!?_"

Naruto edged away from his mother, slightly nervous at her reaction. "Umm… is that bad?" he asked.

Anko ran a hand through her hair. "Depends on how you see it," she said, "If you pass, there's no doubt that you'll learn a lot from him; even though the guy's a lazy bastard that's always late, he knows his stuff. On the other hand he's known for failing prospective genin teams year after year – his test is… rougher than most."

Naruto nodded, sitting down on the couch in the apartment's living room. After Kakashi's last bombshell regarding breakfast, all four (prospective) members of Team 7 had left with their own destination in mind. Naruto had arrived at the apartment he and his mother shared just an hour earlier, and Anko had been home for less than five minutes before she was asking him about his day.

"So our chances are low," said Naruto, looking up at the ceiling dejectedly.

Anko glanced at him, unsure as to how much she should tell him. "Does it matter?" she finally settled for.

Naruto looked at her, confused. "What do you mean?" he asked.

"Does it matter that past teams have failed his test?" she elaborated as she sat down next to him.

Naruto frowned, returning his gaze to the ceiling. "No," he decided. "If what you're saying is true, then Kakashi-Sensei knew what he was doing when he was failing those teams. There must have been something he didn't like in those teams, so he knew that if he passed them they might've died in the future. All that means is that we'll have to work that much harder to pass his exam."

Anko smiled. "Good," she said. "As long as you keep that in mind, then the three of you should have no problems and tomorrow you'll be official genin."

Naruto returned her smile. "Thanks mom, I needed to hear that," he said, before pausing. "Can I ask you something… personal?"

Anko frowned. "What do you want to know?" she asked.

"What was your genin exam like?" he asked. Anko flinched at the memory of her sensei, but she took a deep breath to calm herself down.

"You know I don't like talking about my Sensei," she said. One of the few rules that Anko had put down in their household was to never mention Orochimaru's name. "But that being said, I didn't have a genin exam. Sensei just chose me as his apprentice out of the different graduates. I don't know what it was that he saw in me, but I was given an automatic pass anyways so I can't really help with yours tomorrow." Anko smiled, "Still, I don't think that any help I could give you would matter – you're going to pass with flying colors tomorrow." She winked at him, "Believe it!"

Naruto laughed. "Thanks mom," he said, smiling.

Anko returned his smile and leaned over, giving him a kiss on the cheek. "Now, go get dinner ready," she said, "If Kakashi said no breakfast, then you'll have to compensate with a heavy dinner. And no Ramen, got it?"

"Yes, mom," he said, rolling his eyes. Sure, he loved Ramen enough to eat if breakfast, lunch and dinner if he wanted to, but that didn't mean that he was going to live off the godly food for the rest of his life.

After dinner, Naruto went into his room and started preparing for the next day. Grabbing a traveling bag, he filled it mostly with storage scrolls, all of which had kunai knives, shuriken, Demon Wing shuriken, ninja wire, and other types of ninja tools. He even had a small case filled with blue-colored soldier pills – something that he had gone through great lengths to obtain without his mother knowing. Finally, after a moments thought, he packed a set of ration bars – Kakashi said to bring their ninja gear to the survival exercise, so Naruto decided to abide to Murphy's law: "If something can go wrong, it will. And if you count on this law, it won't work."

Bag ready, Naruto turned to his closet to get into his sleepwear when he was hit with a thought. Smirking pensively, he moved over to the wall next to the door, bit his thumb and pressed the bleeding appendage into a certain spot. With a small poof of smoke, a hidden compartment was revealed, with two curious objects laying within.

Naruto's smirk became a grin. Oh, his Sensei had _no_ idea what he was in for tomorrow.

…**ooOoo…**

The next day, whether by coincidence or design, the three graduates arrived at training ground seven at the exact same time. Naruto glanced at his two teammates, noting that like he, they perfectly aware of their surroundings, watching the dark forests with wary eyes. He also noted Sakura's slight discomfort as she shifted where she stood – signs of their lack of breakfast. Naruto moved his eyes to the dark sky as the birds started to sing, the sky started to lighten on the horizon. Shaking his head to clear the cobwebs, the blonde stood back to back to his teammates and waited for their Sensei.

And waited…

And waited…

And waited…

"Good morning, students! Ready for your first day?"

Immediately, 3 irritated gazes snapped over to the Jounin, who was standing a few feet away with a smile on his face – at least, from what they could discern through the mask.

"You're late," Sakura grumbled.

Kakashi pointed behind him. "Well you see, a black cat crossed my path and I had to take the long away to get rid of the bad luck," he said.

Judging from the deadpan expressions, neither of the three believed him.

Kakashi shrugged, uncaring, before motioning for them to follow him. After a few minutes of walking, they reached a small clearing with three training posts in the center. Kakashi immediately set an alarm clock on one of the stumps.

"Alright, it's set for noon," he said, before pulling out two small bells. "Your assignment is very simple -you just have to take these bells from me. That's all there is to it. If you can't get them by noon, you go without lunch; you'll be tied to those posts and watch while I eat mine in front of you." Here, he paused, as if expecting to hear three stomachs grumble. He narrowed his eyes, silently demanding an explanation, and Naruto guiltily looked down while holding the empty wrapper of a ration bar – disgusting, but good to have in a pinch.

Kakashi blinked in surprise. "And you shared with them?" he asked. Sasuke and Sakura nodded in affirmation. _Well, _he thought, _they've unintentionally foiled one of the main parts of the exam by fulfilling one of the requirements beforehand… _Kakashi then remembered that Naruto had been adopted by Anko. _Could she have told him what to expect?_

"Well, I have to admit that I'm impressed," he said. "Not many people think on bringing that kind of things."

"You did say it was a survival exercise," said Naruto, "_and_ to bring out ninja gear. You just didn't say what kind."

Kakashi smiled. "Good," he said, "You're already learning."

Suddenly, Sakura's head whipped up. "Wait a second," said Sakura, "There's three of us! How can there be only two bells?"

"Well at least that way, one of you will end up tied up to the post and ultimately disqualified for failing to complete the mission." He jingled the bells mockingly. "That one goes back to the Academy." Here, Sakura gasped while Naruto and Sasuke narrowed their eyes. "Then again, all three of you could end up flunking out and going back to the Academy. You're allowed to use all of your tools, including Kunai and Shuriken. If you're not prepared to kill me, then you won't get the bells." Kakashi then tied the bells to his belt. "When I say start, you can begin." The three genin began to get ready, adjusting their clothes and checking their weapons pouches. "Start!"

At the command, the three kids disappeared, jumping away and hiding. For a few minutes, Kakashi just stood there, observing the forest.

"Well," he said to himself, "it seems they have the hiding part- huh?" Kakashi turned at the arrival of one of the genin. Naruto grinned, leaning against a nearby tree.

"So, Kakashi-Sensei…," he said, "how 'bout we fight, just you and me?"

He held up his hands in a seal. Kakashi tensed, but relaxed upon seeing another shadow clone. "Maybe dinner for three?" asked the clone.

Kakashi blinked. _What the…?_

Another poof of smoke, another clone, but this one was holding his groin. "Dude, I really gotta pee!"

A fourth clone. "Well you can do that for free!" he said, punching the third and dispelling it.

Kakashi chuckled, amused. "Sorry, but for laughing you don't get a freebie," he said.

All the clones looked at him strangely. "This dude…" said one.

"He just can't rhyme," said another.

"Too bad, he's cool."

"Hey, I got what's mine!"

Kakashi whirled in surprise as the real Naruto ran away, bells in hand. Kakashi checked his belt, and sure enough, the bells were gone.

Or, at least that's what it looked like. Kakashi held up his hands in a handsign and said, "Kai!" With a flicker, the bells reappeared on his belt.

"You know, for a moment I thought that that actually worked," said the Naruto holding the "bells" before dispelling, along with the rest of the clones. And the "original."

Kakashi looked around. He realized that along with Naruto, Sasuke's and Sakura's chakra signals were long gone. All the clones had done was run interference so that his three students could actually get away.

The jounin smiled, before reaching into his pocket for a book and started to read.

…**ooOoo…**

About a mile away, Naruto arrived at a clearing where his two team mates were waiting crouched in the shadow of a large tree.

"Did he fall for it?"

Naruto shook his head. "Sort of," he answered Sasuke. "I definitely managed to distract him, but he dispelled the Genjutsu almost immediately. Speaking of which…" he turned to Sakura. "Great job with that jutsu! Seriously, it took him about a second for him to notice that the bells were fake, which considering that he's a jounin I think it's a big deal!"

The Pinkette blushed. "Thanks," she said, "I still need to practice though…"

"We all do," said Sasuke. "But now at least we know that Genjutsu won't work on him. You bought us time Naruto – now it's my turn."

"Naruto and I will back you up if anything happens," said Sakura.

"What about the bells?" asked Naruto.

"Right, you weren't here," said Sakura in realization. "Well, Sasuke and I were thinking-"

"Have you ever heard of a three man team?" Sasuke interrupted her.

Naruto's eyes widened in realization. "It's a ploy to set us on each other!" he said. "But then what's the objective?"

"That's what we have to find out," said Sakura, sending an irritated look at Sasuke for interrupting her.

"The only lead we have is that it involves the three of us fighting for those bells," said Sasuke, "so that's exactly what we're going to do. We'll spring his trap, slowly analyzing every aspect of him, and once we're ready, we'll take him down."

"Right!" said Naruto. "Let's go!"

The three genin stood, heading back to where Naruto's clones had attempted to trick the jounin. They jumped from tree to tree and swinging from branch to branch until they had picked up so much speed they looked like blurs. After a few minutes of this, Naruto made a signal with his hand, and he and Sakura fell behind while Sasuke went on. Picking a good spot to see without being seen, Naruto and Sakura settled in for the wait.

Standing right at the edge of the foliage, Sasuke looked at the reading Kakashi whose back was to him.

_Well, he definitely hasn't dropped his guard,_ he thought, _still, without Naruto there aren't any distractions available… what?_ Sasuke looked closer at Kakashi and noticed that the jounin was giggling. _Has he spotted me? Is that why he's laughing? Then why does he keep reading? _Sasuke frowned. _Wait a second… is that… Make Out Paradise!? He's not giggling because he saw me, he's laughing at the book! Now's my chance!_

The Uchiha immediately threw out a barrage of shuriken and kunai, angling them so that the weapons would strike the jounin from the side. However, none of the three genin expected for the blades to actually hit.

Sasuke's jaw dropped in surprise at the sight of blood in the air, Kakashi's body falling lifelessly to the side – only for there to be an explosion and a log landing in place of the body.

Sasuke immediately stood up and walked out into the open. _He never lowered his guard, he was just pretending to draw me out, and now he knows where I was hiding. _Sasuke smirked, hands in his pockets. _Well, the point was to fight him anyways. At least now I know that he's constantly on guard._

"You know," came Kakashi's voice from behind Sasuke, "you really shouldn't have your back to the enemy."

Sasuke wiped his face of every emotion before turning around. He looked at Kakashi impassively, the jounin returning his gaze with his book back in his pouch. Suddenly, Sasuke reached into his weapons pouch and threw an assortment of shuriken at Kakashi. The jounin dodged, but quickly realized that the Uchiha had aimed not at him but at a tripwire behind him.

_I wonder when he set that trap…_ Kakashi was forced to jump out of the way again to dodge the weapons thrown at him by the trap, only this time he was engaged by Sasuke in hand-to-hand combat – Taijutsu. Sasuke came in with a kick, which was caught by Kakashi, but the boy followed up with a punch and another kick, leaving him airborne and upside down – and in reach of the bells.

_I got them!_ thought Sasuke as he reached out, but at the last moment, just when he touched them, Kakashi pulled away. Sasuke flipped himself and landed on his feet, gazing at his Sensei with a speculative gaze. He then reached over his back and grabbed a scroll, biting his thumb and unsealing two Demon Wing Shuriken, courtesy of his teammate. He took two steps, spun, and hurled the massive weapons at Kakashi, one after the other, but the jounin managed to catch both of them, one in each hand.

But that was the point. Hand seals complete, Sasuke shouted: "Fire Style – Great Fireball Jutsu!"

Kakashi's visible eye widened at the sight of the massive fireball heading towards him, surprised that a mere genin had enough chakra to perform such a jutsu. _Well_, thought the jounin as the fireball overtook him, _he's certainly different from the other two._

His jutsu complete, Sasuke let the fire die out. His eyes widened, however, at the sight of no Kakashi and no evidence of his burning. In the trees, Naruto and Sakura tensed as Sasuke immediately got on guard, his eyes snapping from left to right.

"Where'd he go!?" asked Sasuke, unaware that he was speaking out loud. "Behind me? Above me?"

_Crack!_

Sasuke looked down, surprised at the sight of a hand bursting out of the ground and grabbing his leg. "I'm where you least expect me to be," came Kakashi's voice from underground, "Underneath you!"

With a rumble, Sasuke was pulled down and underground, leaving only his head above ground. A few feet away, Kakashi burst out from another hole which he proceeded to fill before crouching in front of Sasuke.

"Earth Style – Headhunter Jutsu," said Kakashi with a smile. "Now, I'm off to find your teammates. Don't move now! Ja ne!"

With a swirl of leaves, Kakashi vanished. Sasuke however only had to wait half-a-minute before two sets of footsteps neared him – Naruto and Sakura.

"What took you so long?" asked the Uchiha.

"Hey, we didn't expect for you to get buried," Naruto protested. He crouched down next to the Uchiha and quickly started to dig him out, Sakura standing guard over the two with her fists raised.

"Naruto, hurry up!" urged the pinkette.

"Ugh, I'm trying!" he answered, "If I could use a Kunai this would be so much faster, but I'd risk stabbing Sasuke!"

"Well at least for once you're thinking," mocked Sasuke.

"Hey, don't say a word or else I'm leaving you stuck in there!"

"WE ARE NOT LEAVING SASUKE BURIED!" yelled an irate Sakura before pushing the blonde out of the way. Furiously, she jammed her hands _straight into the ground_, and with an angry yell pulled the teen out.

For a moment, everyone stood still – Sasuke in surprise at his sudden release, Sakura in amazement at her strength, and Naruto…

"Sakura…" he said, face pale, "have I ever told you that you can be terrifying sometimes?"

Sakura blinked, before staring at her hands.

"Well… it's safe to say that even I didn't see that coming."

The three jumped. Upon seeing the jounin, standing relaxed a few paces away, the three immediately got into position – Naruto in the center, with Sasuke to the right and Sakura to the left. The three were in varying combat positions as well, with Sakura standing in what looked like a Muay Thai stance, Sasuke in the Uchiha style taijutsu stance, and Naruto in Orochimaru's, and by proxy, Anko Mitarashi's famous Snake Style stance.

For a moment, there was silence. But when a lone leaf struck the ground between the jounin and the genin, Naruto reached for the two unopened Demon Wing Shuriken on his back. With one single, fluid movement, the boy opened and threw them at his Sensei, who reciprocated by throwing the two shuriken he had taken from Sasuke and the two sets of weapons clashed in midair. Naruto's shuriken exploded, revealing themselves as henged clones who immediately grabbed Sasuke's Shurikens and threw them at Kakashi, surprising him and forcing him to dodge.

However, as soon as he landed he was beset by Sakura's stone-like punches and kicks. Kakashi blocked all of them, but even so he could feel the massive strength behind every single hit. _Give her a few years, maybe months, and she'll be hitting just as hard as the Sannin Tsunade,_ Kakashi thought as he blocked another punch. He managed to kick the girl away, but Naruto immediately took her place, striking at Kakashi with quick and powerful hits but avoiding most of Kakashi's counter hits. In one instance, to avoid one of Kakashi's kicks the blonde even bent backwards completely at the waist while his leg came up to strike Kakashi's chest.

_Damn! I aimed for his head, but he managed to block the hit with his chest at the last minute!_ thought Naruto. Thankfully, Sasuke had capitalized on the moment by striking Kakashi at his back with a roundhouse kick, which combined with the positioning of Naruto's leg flipped the jounin over Naruto and towards the flying Sakura – Naruto's two clones had interlocked their fingers into handholds and had thrown Sakura at the three men in the hopes of striking Kakashi. That Sasuke had made his move when he did attested to the boy's reaction time.

"Now you're mine!" yelled Sakura, pulling her arm back for a massive blow. When the jounin was in striking distance, her fist flew forward and smashed into Kakashi – only for there to be a small explosion, revealing a shattered log.

A few feet away under cover, Kakashi was astounded at Sakura's strength. _I take it back, _he thought, _she'll be hitting _harder_ than Tsunade in months with the right training._

Sakura yelled in pain, clutching at her fist as she fell towards the ground, her momentum carrying her farther than she had intended. _He used the replacement jutsu to switch at the last minute,_ she though. _I knew I was too obvious, I shouldn't have telegraphed my move like that!_

Sakura braced herself, clutching her hand to her chest as she prepared to hit the ground with her back, but before she could strike she was caught by Sasuke.

"Sakura!" he said, "Are you alright?"

Sakura nodded as Sasuke let her stand. "I'm fine," she said, "but I think that one of my knuckles is broken. I can't move my fingers."

"Can you fight?" asked Naruto, standing next to his teammates, his eyes looking for Kakashi.

Sakura nodded. "Yeah," she said, "I still have seven limbs to strike with."

Her teammates nodded before all three stood back-to-back, hoping that their formation would deter attacks from Kakashi. However, none of the three expected for the jounin to blur between the three of them and push both Sasuke and Sakura away. Naruto whirled around, his hands in a handsign, but he was too late.

"This is where it ends!" yelled the Copy-Cat ninja as he drew a Kunai blade and prepared to stab at Naruto with it. The blonde's eyes widened, and his arms moved upwards as if to block the blade.

_He doesn't have a weapon! _thought Kakashi. _I thought that he would've dodged, but instead he's blocking! I can't stop, I have too much momentum! _Kakashi's eye started to close, not willing to see the younger boy's arms get mutilated by his own hand-

_Clang!_

-only for his eye to widen at the sight of two forearm blades emerging from underneath the sleeves of Naruto's trench coat.

Naruto grinned at him. "Surprise!" he yelled, before pulling open his arms and _slicing_ the Kunai to bits, following up with a kick to the chest at his Sensei and pushing him away. When the jounin recovered, Naruto was in his Snake Style stance – legs open with his right behind the other, both bent at the knees; right arm straight, pointing downwards over his leg while his left arm was retracted, his fist close to his shoulder; blades open and drawn, gleaming viciously in the light.

"Alright Naruto!" yelled Sakura, punching the air from where she laid on the ground. Sasuke smirked confidently – Naruto was a tank on his own, his rapid regeneration allowing him to take hits and shrug them off, but with his blades both of his teammates were hard-pressed to fight against him.

"Ok!" said Naruto, "You and me, here and now, fair and square! Let's go!" Naruto tensed, preparing himself to lunge and close the distance between him and his teacher-

-only to trip and fall at the sound of alarm clock going off.

Kakashi smiled. "Well, I guess we'll have to get a rain check on that fight," he said. "Meet me at the posts!" With a swirl of leaves, the jounin vanished, leaving behind two very worried and crestfallen genin.

Naruto, for his part, was grinning.

"What are you so happy about?" asked Sakura, "We failed! We didn't get the bells!"

Taking his time, the blonde slowly got up, retracting his blades with a _shrik!_ He looked at his teammates, smirking confidently at both of them before he spoke:

"Are you sure about that?"

…**ooOoo…**

When Kakashi saw the three genin walking side-by-side-by-side towards the training posts, he smiled at them, already knowing what they were so happy about.

"So," he said, "who's getting tied to the post?"

Naruto grinned, Sakura smiled, and Sasuke smirked, and as one, they lifted their joined hands – where two bells hung. In the end, it turned out that Naruto hadn't meant to push the jounin away – his kick had been aimed to the jounin's belt where the bells had hung.

"Nobody!" yelled Naruto, "All three of us got the two bells! We're sharing the spoils Sense, and that means that we're not failing this test! We're ninja now, and you have to train us now so that we can get stronger, believe it!"

"What he said," said Sasuke.

"I agree!" Sakura chipped in.

Kakashi looked down, his hands on his waist. His shoulders started to shake as he chuckled, his laughter growing until he was laughing out loud. Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura glanced at each other worriedly, but their worries were laid to rest with the jounin's next words.

"Well, it seems as if I have no choice!" he said. "You three pass!"

There was a moment of silence, before the three started to celebrate in their own way. "Yeah!" yelled Naruto, "One step closer to becoming Hokage, believe it!"

Sasuke looked down at the ground, eyes closed and a victorious smirk on his face. _Itachi,_ he thought, _I'm getting there. I'm not a prodigy like you, but in the end that won't matter – it'll only make my victory that much more satisfying._ He glanced at his happy teammates.Our_ victory, _he corrected himself, _there's no doubt in my mind that they'll be right next to me every step of the way – but I wouldn't want it any other way._

Sakura whooped, jumping into the air. "We did it, we did it!" she yelled, "All that hard work finally paid off!"

Kakashi chuckled, shaking his head. "Now, now, settle down," he said. "Did you three realize what the point of this exam was?"

The three newly-appointed genin stopped their celebrations and considered the question. However, none of the three were able to give him the answer, and they told him so.

"Honestly I'm not surprised," he said, "You're already channeling it naturally so well that even though I tried to pit you against each other, you three always put the squad first over your personal desires."

"Channeling?" asked Naruto, "Channeling what?"

"The most important factor that leads to a successful Shinobi career," said Kakashi, "Teamwork. Of course, taking that into account I should probably fail you three for cheating… but I guess that's the Hokage's fault – he _did_ assign you three into a team already knowing that you'd worked together before."

Naruto chuckled, rubbing the back of his head in a way that was familiar to Kakashi. "Yeah, we've been friends for a long time," he admitted.

"It doesn't surprise me," said Kakashi. "It was obvious from the way you three interacted that you'd trained together before. But back to what I was saying – when a team is on a dangerous mission, if one of the team members puts his own personal desires above the squad, then that throws the team into disarray and compromises the mission. Out there in the field, there's no room for mistakes." Kakashi looked up at the sky before returning his gaze at his students. "Did you know that you're the first team I've passed… ever?" He smiled at their reactions. "Oh yes, but do you wonder why?"

"Because they didn't display teamwork?" asked Sakura.

"Exactly," he said, "It's true, there were always a few individuals that considered teamwork to being the solution, but it's a two-way street, and so I was forced to fail every single team. They thought that becoming a ninja was something to brag about, and that it was all about themselves. They thought that it was a game. They always fell for the temptation of having one of the two bells. It's true that in the cases of those who considered giving their bell to their teammates, special arrangements were made, but team-wise? Failed. Every single time."

Kakashi motioned at a nearby memorial stone, which the genin hadn't noticed before. "Have you seen this stone, at the names engraved on it? They are all ninja who are honored as heroes in our village. Heroes that gave their life for the sake of this village, and for the preservation of its inhabitants." Kakashi bowed his head. "The names of most of my dearest friends are engraved here."

Their sensei looked back at the three genin. "A ninja must see through deception. Just remember: in the ninja world, those that break the rules are scum, that's true, but those who abandon their friends are worse than scum.

"The exercise is over – Squad Seven starts their first mission tomorrow!"

Naruto grinned, holding out his fist. Sakura giggled and did the same, bumping against Naruto's as Sasuke rolled his eyes and bumped his fist against the others'.

"C'mon, Sensei," said Naruto, "You're missing out."

Kakashi chuckled, and bumped his fist against his students'. Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke smiled, and following after Kakashi, they left the training area.

And with that, Team Seven was finally complete.

…**ooOoo…**

**Whew! Done! Not including Author Notes, this chapter is exactly 11061 words – MUCH more than anything I've ever written before. It took a long time, but it's here. Stay tuned for chapter 3, and don't be afraid to review! Yeah, I'm talkin' ta you!**


	3. A Mission to Wave

**Well, I have a treat for you guys. In this chapter, you'll get the new appearances of Sasuke and Sakura – small changes that'll denote the deviation from canon. Also, a little insight into ASM's Anko Mitarashi's mind.**

Arc I – The Times before Seven

Chapter 3 – A Mission to Wave

The forests were dark, even though the sun was shining brightly above the canopy. There was no wind, nothing to disturb the quiet grounds – it was as if every single creature had hidden itself away in fear of _something_ in the area.

Well, everything except for an ugly-looking cat with a pink ribbon tied through one of its ears. Naruto narrowed his eyes at the cat from his position on a tree branch ten feet above it. Nodding, he pressed his fingers into his left ear.

"Leader, this is Foxfire, I've got eyes on the target, over," he said quietly.

"_Acknowledged Foxfire,"_ answered Kakashi's voice through the speaker, _"What's your current positioning? Over."_

"Half a click north from grounds entrance. Target is currently on ground – I'm in a tree above it. Over."

"_Good. Keep eyes on target. Await for reinforcements and notify for any changes."_

"Got it. Over and out."

Just then, Tora the cat started to trot away, and making sure that his steps made no noise, Naruto followed it along the branch. When he reached a point where the wood would no longer support his weight, he swung himself from one branch to another in a smooth movement that didn't even jostle either of the branches and continued following Tora until the cat stopped to hunt for food. Not finding any, the cat continued on its trek. This pattern continued for several minutes, the animal walking and enjoying its (temporal) freedom and Naruto shadowing it.

Just then, the speaker in his crackled to life.

"_Foxfire, this is Darkblade, what's your status regarding target? Over."_

Naruto held his fingers against his ear again. "Target is currently on the move. Distance from last call-in is one-hundred feet east, over."

Sasuke spoke again. _"Acknowledged. Iron Fist is closest to you, five hundred meters east – you should encounter her soon, over."_

"_Way ahead of you, Darkblade – I've got eyes on the target and on Foxfire,"_ said Sakura. Naruto looked around, and sure enough, he could see Sakura's hair peeking from behind a tree trunk a few feet away from Tora. _"For the record, I resent my codename. Over."_

"_Would you have preferred Cherry Blossom? Over."_ The entire team could hear Sasuke's smirk through the speaker.

"_Oh, bite me,"_ came the irritated answer, _"do you realize how ridiculous that name sounds? Over."_

"_I beg to differ. I was merely referring to the color of your hair and how it looks in the sunrise, over."_

A moment of silence. _"Nice save, Darkblade. Over."_

"_This is Leader, reminding you that we're on a time limit, over."_

Naruto winced. "Sorry, Leader. Darkblade, what's your position?"

"Right next to you."

Naruto jumped, holding a hand to his pumping heart. "Jeez, Sasuke, don't do that!" he said, turning to the black-haired boy perched on the thick branch next to him.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "I'll stop doing it when you tell me where Tora is," he said.

Naruto gave him a strange look and pointed at the ground. "What are you talking about, she's right… there…" Naruto trailed off at the sight of an empty clearing. "Shit. Iron Fist, do you have eyes on the target, over?"

"_Affirmative. Target has moved fifty feet west of your position, over."_

"We're on our way, over," said Naruto, and he and Sasuke started to jump through the trees towards Sakura.

"_We?"_

"Darkblade decided to jump me, over."

"_You shouldn't have gotten distracted, over."_

"Point taken," said Naruto. "Target is now in sight. Darkblade is currently circling around. Once he's in position get ready to engage, over."

"_Got it. I am in position to engage and awaiting further orders, over."_

"Copy Iron Fist," answered Naruto. "Darkblade, what's your ETA, over?"

"_I'm in position, over."_

"Copy that. Leader, this is Foxfire, are we cleared to engage, over?"

"_This is Leader. You are clear to engage. Apprehend the target."_

"Acknowledged Leader. Iron Fist, Darkblade, move on my mark. Herd target towards my position, over."

"_Ten-Four,"_ Answered both.

"All right, on the count of three," said Naruto. "One… Two… Three!"

Immediately, both Sasuke and Sakura burst out of the foliage and charged at the cat. Tora immediately noticed the two genin and tensed, running away… _from Naruto._

"What the-?" yelped Sasuke before the cat reached him. The devil's spawn, as it was known by most – read: all except Team Seven – of the genin of Konoha, had known what was going to happen due to past experience, and so decided to react in a way they hadn't expected by charging at one of the members. Sasuke was startled by this, and so was unprepared for the cat's jump towards his face, claws extended.

_This is going to hurt,_ thought Sasuke as the cat descended on him.

A couple of minutes later, Naruto winced upon seeing the long scratches on Sasuke's face, red and vivid against the boy's skin. Judging from Sasuke's expression, that wasn't the worst thing that was stinging.

"Not. A. Word."

Yup, pride definitely hurt more than his face. Naruto raised his hands in defeat, backing off to where Sakura was restraining Tora, the cat held by the scruff of its neck in the Kunoichi's hand away from Sakura's body. After comparing the cat with a picture they had been given upon taking the mission, as well as verifying the authenticity of the pink ribbon wrapped around the devil spawn's ear, Naruto raised his fingers to his ear.

"Leader, this is Foxfire," he said, "Target confirmed and apprehended – Lost pet Tora has now been captured. Mission Accomplished."

"_Well done. Head back to Hokage Tower with the target. I'll meet you there. Over and out."_

"Got it, Kakashi-Sensei," he said before turning to his friends. "Alright, let's put that cat into the cage and go, Sensei's waiting for us-"

"-at the Hokage Tower," interrupted Sakura, "We know, Naruto. How about instead of rushing us you helped us?"

Naruto rubbed the back of his head, chagrined. "Hehe… sorry," he said while picking up the cage... at the same time the cat slipped out of Sasuke's grasp.

The screams made everyone shiver for miles away.

…**ooOoo…**

"Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww, my poor little Tora, mommy was so worried about her lovely little fuzzykins, yes!"

Tora was yowling in distress at being hugged – read: suffocated – by her owner, a fat lady with rich clothing and jeweled rings on each of her fingers. However, it got no sympathy from the three scratched genin that had been tasked with recapturing the lost pet.

"Stupid cat," muttered Naruto, "It deserves to be squashed…"

"No wonder it ran away," said Sakura, "but I have to agree with Naruto."

"Hm," grumpily added Sasuke.

Pretending to read _Make-Out: Paradise_, Kakashi smirked behind his mask, amused at his students' reactions. The jounin – all of them – were glad that Tora hadn't been around during their times, and so were free to enjoy the torture that the cat put their students through. Many an afternoon had been spent at the bar, drinking and swapping tales of how Tora would lead genin into complicated situations.

_There was even one genin that fell into a sewage plant,_ Kakashi remembered. _Poor kid, rumors were that he had cholera for weeks…_

Meanwhile, Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Third Hokage of Konohagakure, was reading the different assignments that Team 7 available.

"For Squad Seven's next assignment," read Sarutobi in a bored tone of voice, "we have several available tasks, among them babysitting the Chief Counselor's three-year-old, helping his wife to do the shopping, and picking up potatoes from the agricultural sector of the village. Which will it be?"

Kakashi looked at his students. "Your pick," he said.

Naruto's eye was twitching as he restrained himself from shouting out like a little child. Instead, he raised his hand. "Lord Hokage," he started, taking care to speak in a respectful tone, "are there any more… challenging missions?"

"Challenging?" asked Sarutobi.

"Uh, yeah," said Naruto, "you know, a _real_ mission, not this kiddie stuff."

Sasuke and Sakura didn't reveal it, but inside they were thinking, _Thank you Naruto!_

Iruka Umino, who was sitting next to the Hokage at the long table, angrily stood. "Who do you think you are!?" he yelled. "You're just a rookie genin with no experience! Like everyone else you start with simple missions to develop your skill set and prove yourself!"

Naruto couldn't take it anymore. "Are you serious!?" he yelled back. "You're calling babysitting a mission!? What am I supposed to develop in babysitting, my patience and observational skills!? I cultivated those by staying awake during your lectures at the Academy!"

Sasuke looked down, covering his smile with his hand. _I will not laugh,_ he thought, _an Uchiha must not reveal emotions, I will not laugh…_

_Even though I agree with everything you said,_ though Sakura, _you shouldn't have shouted Naruto. It only makes you look bad._

Iruka developed a visible tick mark on his forehead, but before he could retaliate Naruto spoke again, this time in a more calmed tone. "Lord Hokage," he said, "I apologize for my outburst, but with all due respect, my team and I, we're getting suffocated here!"

Sarutobi raised his hand, cutting off Iruka again. "Explain yourself," he said. "And please, speak freely if you like."

Naruto immediately relaxed. "Thanks Old man," he said. "Look, it's been a month since our genin exam, and every day, we've been doing at least two D-rank missions, sometimes even three on top of our training. We've been dedicating each morning to missions, afternoons to training. Sure, helping people out is nice and all, but babysitting, painting fences, catching demon spawns… they get to your head. Seriously, the only reason I've had to use my clones in the past month was to clean up that park two weeks ago!"

_Well,_ thought Kakashi, _he had a rocky start, but his case has been made. He argued well._

Sarutobi nodded. "I see," he said. "You understand the importance of these tanks that you and your team are being assigned?"

Naruto nodded. "I do," he said, "Kakashi-Sensei explained it to us two weeks ago. He talked about the income the village receives, and he also explained the ranking of the different missions depending on their difficulty." He smiled, rubbing the back of his head. "I think even Iruka-Sensei mentioned it in class as well a couple of times."

Iruka blinked, sitting back down. _Even though he admits my lectures were boring,_ he thought_, he still paid attention. That says a lot about him._

"Good," said Sarutobi. "I will consider your request, but unfortunately it's not up to me."

"Huh? Why not?" asked Naruto.

The Hokage chuckled. "Because I don't know if you three are ready," he said. "But I know someone who does. Kakashi?"

"They're ready."

Everyone in the room, including his three students, were surprised at the swiftness of his answer. "Care to explain?" asked Sarutobi.

"Certainly," he said, not even looking up from his book. "Over the past month, these three have learned a variety of different techniques and have improved their teamwork. Each of them knows at least two elemental Jutsus related to their affinity; they've successfully completed chakra-control exercises such as Tree Climbing to my satisfaction; their Taijutsu has improved beyond the Academy style taijutsu; and they've taken to stealth exercises like white on rice. Also, each of them has their own special skills – Naruto's bukijutsu, Sakura's medical jutsu and Sasuke's kenjutsu. It's true that they have little to no skills in these areas, but all they need is practice. In fact, there is only one thing that I believe that they are lacking."

Sarutobi nodded. "Experience," he said.

"Yes, Lord Hokage," answered Kakashi. "They're ready for a C-rank, perhaps even an easy B-rank, but let's not rush ourselves."

Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura were pleasantly surprised at their teacher's evaluation of them. True, they'd been training like mules every day, only taking Saturdays or Sundays off, but had they really advanced so much in just a month?

Meanwhile, the Hokage was nodding. "Very well then," he said, surprising the three genin. "Since you're so determined, I'll give you a C-ranked mission. You'll be bodyguards on a journey."

Naruto grinned excitedly. "Thanks Old Man!" he said, "You won't regret this. So who are we guarding?"

Sarutobi smiled. "Send in our visitor!" he called. At the sound of a door opening, Team 7 turned around to look at the entrance of a drunk healthy-looking old man… if that made any sense. He was dressed in beige pants, a dark green shirt with no sleeves, and a purple sash above his waist, and a full pack on his back.

"What the…? A bunch of little snot-nosed kids!?" he said. The man paused, before taking a _long_ pull from the bottle of Sake in his hand. The man, finished with his drink leaned on the doorframe and pointed at Naruto. "And you, the little one with the idiotic look on his face, you expect me to believe that you're a ninja?"

Naruto glared at the man. It wasn't his fault that his growth spurt hadn't kicked in yet! The blonde slowly turned to look at the Hokage, whose victorious smirk widened upon seeing Naruto's expression.

_I take it back_, he mouthed to him, _You're going to regret this, Old Man!_

_I'm sure, _answered his grandfather figure.

Meanwhile, the client started to speak. "I am Tazuna," he said, "I am a Master Bridge Builder, and I must return to my country and finish a bridge that will change our lives. In the meantime I expect you to protect me with your very lives."

"And we will," said Kakashi. He turned to his students. "Meet up at the main gate in an hour. Pack for a long trip – we'll be gone for at least a week, a couple of months at most."

"Yes, Sensei," answered the three genin in unison before leaving the room that was commonly dubbed as "The Mission Room." Once outside the Hokage's Tower, the three went their separate ways to their respective homes.

Naruto arrived at his apartment and went straight into his room. Grabbing a small travelling bag, he placed it on his bed and moved around the room, picking out the things that he would need. The end result was something similar to what he had packed for the day of his genin exam, with the difference that there were less storage scrolls, and that the scrolls themselves were filled with more weapons. However, after taking stock of some things, Naruto scowled and placed his hands in the clone sign.

"_Shadow Clone Jutsu!"_

There were two bursts of smoke, and Naruto gave his orders.

"You go to the main gate and wait for the others," he said. "Tell them why I'm late in case I am." The clone nodded and jumped out of the window, and Naruto turned to the other. "You, wait here for mom. Tell her everything; that I'm on a mission, and how long it may last. Oh, and lock up after me."

"You got it, boss," said the clone. Naruto nodded, picked up the finished pack, and left the apartment.

Looking up at the sun to check the time, Naruto frowned – even though he had nearly forty minutes left to get to the main gate, the place he needed to go to was in the opposite direction, meaning that he would have to double back afterwards.

_If I run, I'll make it in time,_ he thought. Nodding, the blonde took off at a run, climbing one of the nearby buildings and jumping from rooftop to rooftop. Fifteen minutes later, the blonde made it to his destination – the one ninja supply shop that didn't sell him bad quality weapons at a high price.

When Naruto opened the door to the shop, a bell above it rang, and the young teenager at the counter looked up with a friendly smile. The shop itself was rather empty, as the only thing clients could see was the counter itself – the weapons and supplies were stored away in the back, where no one would steal them.

"Hey Naruto!" said the shop owner's teenage daughter, an ingenious weapons creator, enthusiast and inventor named Tenten.

"Hi Tenten," he answered. "How's training going?"

"Pretty good, actually," she said. "I mean, I've told you how Guy-Sensei is, and while that hasn't changed, he says that if we keep it up he'll sign us up for the Chūnin exams this year."

"That's great!" Naruto said with a smile. "I wish I could join you guys, but I doubt Kakashi-Sensei would sign us up… oh well, we'll see. Something tells me we'll see each other in the exams, believe it!"

"That would be great," said Tenten. "Anyways, what do you need?"

Naruto shook his head, remembering what he was there for. "Well, I'm heading out on a mission in a few minutes, so I'm going to need a couple of storage scrolls and some weapons oil if you have some. Oh, and a couple of Kunai and Shuriken packs," he said.

"What happened to the scrolls you were trying to write?" asked Tenten, moving into the storage room.

"They didn't work," he answered. "For some reason, the chakra wasn't bonding to the paper. Maybe I wrote something wrong or I didn't prepare the ink well, I don't know. In any case, I'm short the two scrolls, so here I am."

"Well you're in luck," came the answer from inside the room. "We ran out of chakra paper yesterday, and the new ones were just dropped off this morning; I made two fresh storage scrolls already." Tenten exited the room, placing the two scrolls, the weapon packs and the weapons oil on the counter. "You want me to put these on your mom's tab?"

Naruto nodded. "Yeah," he said, "I'll pay for them when I get my cut from the mission, don't worry."

"I never do," said Tenten with a smile. "You always pay on time." She nodded at his arms. "How are the twins working?"

Naruto grinned and held up his right arm, a small chakra burst resulting in the blade of his gauntlet shooting out with a _shrik!_ "They're doing just fine," he said, "They need a little bit of oil since I ran out yesterday, but that's what this is for," he added, pointing at the oil. "You did a great job with these, Tenten." Another burst of chakra, and his favorite weapon retracted the blade. Really, he loved the damn things – they were a permanent part of his ensemble now, since they worked great with his Snake Style Taijutsu, and the gauntlets themselves worked for protection as well.

"Thanks," she said. "You should know that I made my decision – you'll have the only working pair of those in the Elemental Nations."

Naruto's eyes widened. "You're serious?" he said, packing the new supplies into the scrolls he'd just purchased. "You're not going to mass produce them?"

"Nah," she said. "Too expensive. Normally I'd try no matter the cost, but I figure that I might as well give you an edge. So you're welcome," she added with a wink.

Naruto laughed as he started to leave. "Thanks," he said, "but I think you're just being lazy. See you Tenten!"

"Good luck on your mission!" she answered. Naruto nodded, and exited the shop before taking off at a run the same way he arrived. Fortunately, he was quick enough to arrive at the massive village gates just as the hour given by his Sensei expired.

"You're just on time, Naruto," said Kakashi as he arrived. "Your clone was just explaining why you were going to be late."

Naruto nodded. "Yeah, sorry," he said. "Are we ready to go?"

"We were just waiting for you," said his Sensei, nodding at his teammates. Both Sasuke and Sakura were there, waiting for him along with Tazuna. Sasuke was wearing his chokutō, a traditional straight one-edged blade, horizontally on his waist on top of his dark blue shirt, white shinobi-style pants with a weapons holster on his right leg and dark blue sandals. A travelling pack similar to Naruto's was slung over one of his shoulders, his left hand on the strap while his right was on the handle of his sword – a recently acquired tool once he was able to secure training with it.

Sakura, unlike her two teammates, did not wield an extra weapon for bukijutsu. Keeping in with her favorite color, Sakura was wearing a dark red shirt under a white jacket, along with black shinobi pants with bandages wrapped around her ankles and a weapons pouch on her right leg, black gloves with metal plates on the back and a travelling pack on her back. Unlike her teammates, however, she didn't wear sandals, preferring a pair of sturdy black small-heeled boots that were flexible enough for her to jump and run as fast as Naruto and Sasuke. And as both male teenagers could attest to, a kick from those blocks of leather _hurt_.

Naruto smiled sheepishly. "Sorry guys," he said. "I got what I needed though, so let's go!"

Tazuna grunted, before walking out through the Village gates. Team Seven followed him – not knowing that the four members that would return would be changed forever.

…**ooOoo…**

The journey was uneventful for the most part. Since Tazuna was a civilian – a most-of-the-time drunk civilian as well – the four ninjas were forced to walk all the way to Wave Country as opposed to running, which would've cut down significantly on their travel time. It was irritating to say the least, especially to people like Naruto who were very active most of the time. Instead of reaching Wave in one day, they would be forced to at least two days.

The first interruption to the monotone silence was a question from Sakura regarding other Shinobi villages. Their Sensei explained that most countries didn't have Hidden Villages, preferring to secure contracts usually from one of the five great Shinobi Villages – Konoha, the Village Hidden in the Leaves; Kumo, the Village Hidden in the Clouds; Kiri, the Village Hidden in the Mist; Suna, the Village Hidden in the Sand; and Iwa, the Village Hidden in the Rocks. Kakashi then explained that there were other Villages as well, such as the Hidden Valley Village in the Land of Rivers, which had their own ninja systems and cultures, along with their own powerful leaders.

Sakura nodded during the explanation, while Naruto and Sasuke listened patiently – this wasn't information that was given freely at the Academy. "Anyways," Kakashi was saying, placing a comforting hand on Sakura's shoulder, "there are no ninja battles in a C-Rank Mission, so you can relax."

"So we won't face any enemy ninja?" she asked, relief evident in her tone. It was true that she was a strong Kunoichi, but then again she was still a genin and no better than cannon fodder.

Just then, Naruto sniffed discretely at the air. Salt…

Kakashi chuckled. "No," he said, "Not likely."

Naruto glanced around, noting the bead of sweat rolling down Tazuna's face. With a small hand gesture, he pointed it out to Sasuke, who got the message and instantly became more alert before passing the message on to their final teammate. Behind them, Kakashi had noticed Tazuna's fidgeting for a long time, and was proud that his students were doing the same.

Time passed on again, Squad Seven and their client walking on in silence. The group crossed a bridge that marked the border between Fire Country and Wave Country and kept walking, with only Kakashi noticing a small puddle in the middle of the road. Even then, he only gave it a cursory glance without stopping.

It wasn't until they were about ten feet away however, that things went to hell in a hand basket.

Two ninjas dressed in black uniforms, cloaks and rebreather masks on their faces emerged out of the puddle. The two ninjas were connected by a long spiked chain that was connected to a gauntlet on each of the two ninjas. Immediately they moved into action, they jumped, quickly rapping the chain around Team Seven's Sensei. With a grunt of exertion, they pulled at the chain, and Kakashi was torn to shreds, blood and gore and bone and organs falling to the ground.

For a moment, Naruto was shocked. Kakashi Hatake, the Copy-Cat Ninja, killed in action right in front of his eyes? It seemed impossible that… that…

Naruto narrowed his eyes, clenching his fists. His sensei was alive, no doubt about it, because there was no way that a move like could take out a jounin of Kakashi's caliber. But if that was the case, then where was he? And more importantly, where were the enemy ninjas?

A small breeze behind him alerted Naruto, and he immediately jumped into action. He tumbled forward, narrowly avoiding being wrapped by the ninjas' chain, and twisted so that when he came up he was facing the two ninjas.

Except that they weren't facing him. Instead, they had moved on to attack Sakura, who was guarding a pale-looking Tazuna, but Sasuke managed to pin the ninjas' chain to a nearby tree with a shuriken and kunai. The chain tensed, reaching its limit, and one of the ninjas gave a cry of surprise when his arm was pulled back. Sasuke landed on the ninja's arm and kicked him in the face, unintentionally dislodging the chain from the gauntlet it was attached to. His companion dislodged his own chain and proceeded to engage the Uchiha while the other rushed towards Team Seven's client. Sakura got into her taijutsu stance, ready to defend Tazuna.

By now however, Naruto was back in action, appearing in front of Sakura and blocking the ninja's clawed gauntlet with his own. Sending a burst of chakra and extending his blade, Naruto quickly slashed down and cut off the surprised ninja's arm at the elbow, eliciting a cry of pain. He then moved out of the way, throwing the end of his coat into the ninja's face to temporarily blind him just before Sakura kicked the ninja away with extreme force, sending him flying against a tree and mercifully knocking him out.

"Brother!" yelled the other ninja from where he was engaging Sasuke before turning towards Naruto and Sakura. "I'LL KILL YOU!" he yelled, slashing at Sasuke with his gauntlet and knocking the boy's sword from his hand. He ducked under the boy's slash with the kunai in his other hand and started to pounce, gauntlet forward with claws extended, ready to pierce through Sasuke's chest, lethally wound him at least.

However, before that could happen, a blue-green blur intercepted the ninja, catching him by the neck and knocking him out from the blow.

"Hi," said Kakashi in a nonchalant tone.

Naruto grinned. "About time!" he said. He nodded at the pile of shredded timber, evidence of his Sensei's substitution jutsu. "Where'd all the blood and gore come from?" he asked.

Kakashi smiled. "Oh, that was just a minor genjutsu mixed with the substitution," he said. "It works wonders with fooling enemies. But anyways, well done you three. You protected the client and took down the enemy without hesitation. I'm impressed."

Sasuke smirked, while Naruto and Sakura grinned and smiled respectively. "However," Kakashi interrupted their celebration, "we need to get the poison out of your system Naruto, so don't move around too much; otherwise you'll spread the poison."

Naruto blinked. "Huh?" he said confused, looking down at his body for any visible wounds. A small flash of color caught his eye, drawing it to the back of his hand. Apparently it had been scratched when he blocked that ninja's gauntlet, but for the life of him he couldn't feel any pain from the wound whatsoever.

"I must still have adrenaline in my system," muttered Naruto, looking at the scratch speculatively.

"By the way, Mr. Tazuna…" continued Kakashi, catching the bridge builder's attention.

"Yeah, what?" asked the man defensively.

Kakashi paused for a moment before looking at the man from his left – meaning that all Tazuna saw was Kakashi's headband-covered eye. "We need to talk," was all the Copy-Cat said.

A few minutes later that included some rope and a fire jutsu, team seven plus Tazuna were looking down at the tied pair of ninjas. They'd waken up some time earlier, one of them moaning at the loss of his arm.

Kakashi looked up from where he was checking a small black book for reference. "They are the Demon Brothers Gōzu and Meizu," he said, "Chūnin-level missing-nin from the Village Hidden in the Mist. Their specialty is relentless attack – they keep fighting no matter what the sacrifice."

Gōzu looked up, glaring at him. At his side, Meizu was sitting stonily, not giving any indication whatsoever that his stump was hurting him, but Naruto knew that he was definitely in pain. "How did you know about our ambush?" asked Gōzu.

Kakashi gave him a look. "A puddle, on a clear day when it hasn't rained in weeks?" he asked in a patronizing tone.

Tazuna looked at him. "In that case, why'd you leave all the fighting to the genin?" he asked.

"I could've taken them out quickly," Kakashi admitted, "but then I would have learned nothing. I had to know who their target was – us, ninja attacking ninja, or you, the master bridge builder?"

"Huh!?" asked Tazuna, "What're you getting at!?"

"This," said Kakashi, turning to fully face him. "When you put in your request, you asked for standard protection from robbers and highwaymen; you didn't say there were _ninja_ looking for you, hunting you down. If we knew this it would be a B-rank mission or higher. Our task was to get you to your destination safely and protect you while you finished your bridge. If we knew we'd be fielding attacks from enemy ninja we would've staffed differently and charged for the cost of a B-rank. Apparently you have your reasons, but lying to us is not acceptable. We are now beyond the scope of this mission."

Tazuna winced and looked down at the ground in guilt. Sakura stepped forward and spoke, "We're genin, this mission is too advanced for our level of training. Besides, we _really_ need to treat Naruto's would and get the poison out as soon as possible. Back in our village we can take him to a doctor-"

"Actually, I'm way ahead of you," said Naruto, holding up a bloodied Kunai in his now-bandaged hand. "Hehe… sorry. But anyways… Kakashi-Sensei, I uh… I want to keep going."

Kakashi cocked his head. "Why?" he asked.

"Because I made myself a promise years ago," he said. "I promised myself that I would never give up, that I'd never stop on the road to my dream. I've trained for so long to get to where I am today, pushing myself until it hurt and training alone for hours, anything to get stronger. When I became friends with Sasuke and Sakura, I saw them not just as friends, but as family –as an orphan, I never knew of the value of having friends and family, but once I'd experienced it, I promised myself that I would become strong enough to protect them."

He held up the bloodied knife. "Turning back now would be like spitting at those promises, completely throwing them away like trash," he said. "And I can't accept that. So bridge builder…" he looked at Tazuna, "I don't know why you lied, but I'll complete this mission and protect you with this Kunai knife." He gave them a savage grin. "Don't worry, I'll be fine."

…**ooOoo…**

"…so he just cracked? Just like that?"

Anko nodded with a smile. "Yup! I swear I didn't know whether to feel happy that I'm famous or irritated that I could break the guy's mind… oh well, there's always the next one."

Kurenai Yuuhi, Anko Mitarashi's best friend, shook her head. To this day, she was still impressed at how much adopting Naruto had changed Anko. Her friend was still bloodthirsty and a bit of a psychopath sometimes, true, but at the same time she was more grounded, calmer. It was to the point that Kurenai never truly saw Anko smile before… not until her son came into her life. _That's_ when the woman started to smile, to truly feel happy.

Now the only thing that remained was to find her a good boyfriend…

"What are you thinking?" asked Anko, drawing Kurenai from her thoughts.

The red-eyed beauty smiled mischievously at her friend, giving her a _look_, and Anko sighed. "No, Kure, I'm not dating," she said as she opened the elevator grill, having arrived at her floor.

"Oh come on!" protested Kurenai, following her, "You really deserve it Anko!"

"Kurenai, remember what happened the last time?" said Anko.

"That was an accident," Kurenai defended herself. "I had no idea that he would try to come on to you like that, I swear."

"I know, I know," her friend consoled her, "but you get my point. Just because I was _his_ apprentice, men seem to think that I'm some kind of whore… as if I'd let that bastard touch me like that. Or any of them."

Kurenai placed her hand on her friend's shoulder, knowing how much it hurt Anko that other people saw her like that even if she didn't show it. Anko smiled at her in silent thanks before stopping in front of her apartment door.

"Do you want some tea or something?" asked Anko as she fished for her keys.

"You know I do," said her friend. "Your teas are the best in the village… and I still resent you for not giving me your secret."

Anko smirked at her. "Well I would," she said, opening the door, "if you weren't so bad at making them!"

"Oh it's on!" Kurenai tackled her, pushing her through the open door. The two friends landed on the ground laughing, but that stopped at the sound of a throat clearing.

"Umm, not that I want to interrupt…" said Naruto's voice, "but there's something really important that I have to tell you. Oh, hi, Miss Yuuhi."

Anko stood, her friend following, and moved over to her son. "Hey you brat," she said affectionately. She moved to hug him, but stopped upon noticing something… Her eyes widened, and her heartbeat started to pick up. "Where's Naruto?" she asked, her voice sharp.

Kurenai immediately moved to draw a kunai knife from her weapon's pouch, but Naruto's clone stopped by saying, "Don't worry, I'm just a clone. Boss got a mission."

"Where?" asked Anko, worry in her tone. "When did you leave?"

"Wave country," answered the clone. "It's an escort mission. We were assigned as bodyguards to a bridge builder while he finishes his bridge. It's almost done, but it's still going to take about at least a month to finish. We left about four, five hours ago actually, just after we finished the D-rank for the day."

Anko bit her lip, nodding. They knew it was going to happen, just not so soon. "A C-Rank…" said Anko, "How did that happen?"

"Honestly mom… we were getting tired of chasing Tora all over Konoha," said Naruto. "If it makes you feel better, Kakashi thought we were ready."

Anko scoffed. "It doesn't. That man would've let you go on the mission anyways because he's too lazy to say otherwise," she said, before sighing. "Well, congratulations are in order I guess…"

The clone smiled. "Thanks mom," he said.

Kurenai shook her head. "You do realize that you're the first genin team to have a C-Rank, right?" she asked. "If you three are advancing so much in so little time, I really need to up my team's training regimen…"

The clone blinked. "I didn't actually," he said, referring to the trivia regarding the missions.

"Well, good luck then," said Kurenai.

The clone nodded his thanks before turning to Anko. The special Jounin moved forward and hugged the clone of her son. "Be careful," she pleaded.

"I will," he promised. Anko pulled away and placed a kiss on his forehead. The clone gave her a strange look, but Anko knew that Naruto would receive the clone's memory when it dispelled, even if the boy himself didn't know it. Anko gave him a nod, and with a final smile, the clone dispelled.

Immediately, Anko started to breathe heavily, and Kurenai quickly moved to comfort her friend with a hug.

"Shh…" comforted Kurenai, rubbing Anko's back with her hand, "He'll be fine, Anko, you'll see."

"I know," she said, her voice quivering, "I know, he'll be fine, I've trained him, he's got Kakashi with him… so why do I feel like this? I've never felt like this…"

"Because he's your little boy," said Kurenai. "He's your little boy, and you will never stop worrying, even when Naruto's wearing the Hokage's Hat and smiling down at all of Konoha."

Anko gave a strained sound, a cross between a laugh and a sniffle, and when she pulled away, Kurenai was slightly surprised to see tears on her friend's visage. Anko rubbed them away with a hand, smiling slightly. "You're right," she said. "Well, at least about one thing – I'll never stop worrying about him. He's not a little boy… not anymore." Anko scoffed. "If I'd known this is what I was going to be going through I would never have adopted him."

Kurenai laughed. "You don't mean that," she said.

"No, I don't," Anko agreed, smiling. "In fact, given the choice I would never have changed anything. If I were to relive my life again, I'd be standing right at that same corner, just waiting for a tiny blond brat to spill my dango. Before Naruto, I never would've thought about motherhood… but now I wouldn't have it any other way."

Kurenai's eyes were wide with wonder. Her friend never ceased to surprise her with how much she truly changed. Sure, she'd spoken about her adopted son with happiness, fondly calling him brat sometimes, but she'd never spoken so _deeply_ about her love for her son… Yes, Anko had definitely changed for the better.

Meanwhile as Kurenai thought this, Anko shook her head. "So, how about that tea?" she said, moving towards the kitchen. Kurenai blinked, before moving towards the living room and sitting down at the couch.

"Oh, before I forget…" came Anko's voice as she popped her head into the living room. Looking at Kurenai with her eyes narrowed in a glare, she said, "You know what'll happen if you say a word about what just happened, right?"

Kurenai looked at her with a straight face. "Of course," she said. Anko nodded, and as soon as she disappeared, the red-eyed beauty giggled in amusement.

Oh, she'd keep her promise… for a price. There was a young man in mind that _might_ just work out for her friend…

…**ooOoo…**

The next day, by the same time that the group had defeated the missing-nin from Kiri, the group was travelling through fog so thick that not a single member was able to see more than a few feet in front of them.

After their encounter with the Demon Brothers, Tazuna had led them all the way to the sea, where they made camp and spent the night. Early next morning, an unnaturally thick fog rolled in, and along with it a small motorboat piloted by a single rower. Team Seven plus the bridge builder got in after breaking camp, and the boatman immediately set off into the thick morning fog.

For a while, no one said a word. Naruto was at the small boat's prow, eyes narrowed and looking ahead into the mist, sniffing at the air every now and then. Likewise, Sasuke, Sakura and Tazuna along with the boatman were vigilant as well. The only one who seemed relaxed was Kakashi as he read his orange book, but as he'd proven before appearances could be deceiving.

"We're getting close," said the boatman in a low voice, slowly rowing as he did so, "We're coming up to the bridge."

On cue, a massive unfinished stone bridge seemed to loom out of the mist. From their position in the water, the bridge looked to be at least forty to fifty feet high and was supported by solid columns of stone and steel. Pillars were located at regular intervals along the sides of the bridge, with steel cables strung from each and connecting to specific positions between the pillars. At the end of the bridge where construction was halted stood a large sign, warning anyone of the sudden drop-off.

"Wow!" exclaimed Naruto, forgetting himself for a moment, "It's huge!"

"Quiet!" reprimanded the boatman, his hushed voice managing to sound urgent, "Do you_ want_ us to get caught!? Why do you think we're going through all this effort? Travelling through the thick fog, rowing instead of using the motor… this is that they don't see us!"

Naruto blushed, while his teammates glared slightly at him. Kakashi turned to the bearded bridge builder. "Mister Tazuna," he said, "before we reach the pier I want to ask you something." Tazuna glanced at Kakashi but didn't say anything, so the masked ninja continued, "The men that are after you… I need to know why. If you don't tell us I'm afraid that I'll have to end this mission when we drop you ashore."

For a few moments, the boat was silent. Every member of Team Seven had their gaze riveted on Tazuna, who still hadn't looked up from where he was staring a hole into the boat's hull.

"You're right," said Tazuna, finally looking up. "You deserve to know. As a matter of fact, I _want_ you to know." Tazuna took a deep breath, calming his nerves. "The man who's after me… he's a small man that casts a long shadow. He's a well-known, famous businessman that takes over countries with the same ruthlessness with which he takes out other businesses."

Kakashi's frown could be seen through his mask. "Who?" he asked Tazuna. "What is his name?"

Tazuna gave a sad chuckle. "You've probably heard of him," he said. "His name… his name is Gatou."

Kakashi's single visible eye widened. "Gatou? Of the Gatou Shipping Enterprises, one of the most successful companies in the world? He's probably the richest man in the Elemental Nations! What does he want with you?"

Tazuna took another deep breath, relaxing slightly now that the ninjas were listening. "It was one year ago that Gatou set his eyes on Wave Country. At first, he seemed like a regular businessman, buying our shipping companies and setting up businesses with his vast wealth. The thing is that once he'd driven all the competition out, he showed where he _truly_ makes his money – drug trafficking and slavery rings. And in an island nation he who controls the sea controls everything

"But that doesn't really answer your question. You see, they bridge is a threat – a threat to him and his power. If that bridge is finished, Wave country would be able to open new trade routes through it – which is why I must be protected at all costs, for I am the only one that finish the job. If you leave me, they'll assassinate me before I reach home."

Tazuna sighed. "But don't feel bad about that!" he said, "Of course, my sweet little grandson will cry 'Granddad! I want my granddad back!'"

Naruto narrowed his eyes at the old man. He was actually _guild tripping them?_

The bridge builder continued, "Oh, and my daughter will feel bad and condemn the ninja of the Hidden Leaf for abandoning her father and leaving her life in sorrow…"

Naruto glanced at his teammates. Sasuke expressed nothing, but kind-hearted Sakura was beginning to be convinced… as was he.

"But it's not your fault!" cheerfully finished Tazuna, "Forget it, don't worry about it!"

Kakashi looked at his students, taking in _their_ decisions before turning back to Tazuna. "Well," he said, "I guess we have no choice but to continue!"

Tazuna let out a relieved breath. "I am very grateful," was all he said. Internally, he was giving them a peace sign while smugly thinking, _I win!_

…**ooOoo…**

As the group minus the boatman walked, Kakashi thought worriedly about the near future. _The next ninja they'll send won't be a Chūnin,_ he thought, _they'll be Jounin._

With that in mind, he kept an eye out for any tells or signs of threats. His tension was noticed by his students since he wasn't reading _Make Out: Paradise_ as he usually would in these situations, and as such they too were on high alert. Naruto was in the lead, his nose twitching every now and then, with Sasuke behind him and Tazuna behind Sasuke while Kakashi and Sakura walked at the bridge builder's sides.

The area they were walking in was near the sea. They'd walked from Wave country's main port in the city to a nearby forest path that led towards Tazuna's house. As such, they were surrounded by tall trees on both sides, with the ocean not too far away.

As they entered a small clearing, Naruto's senses spiked, and he quickly threw a kunai knife into a nearby bush alerting everyone. Team Seven froze as the bushes rustled for a moment… and a snow-white rabbit ran out of the bush.

"Naruto!" yelled Sakura, moving forwards towards the blonde, "What do you think you're doing, scaring us like that!?" Upon reaching him, she bopped her friend on the head – hard.

Naruto lurched forward, clutching his head in pain. "Why- why'd you do that?" asked Naruto. "I swear, there was something there, and it wasn't a rabbit!"

Ignoring the bickering of his students, Kakashi was nonchalantly gazing into the surrounding forest. _They're here,_ he thought. A sudden whoosh, barely heard over the wind coming from the sea made the Copy-Cat ninja's instincts scream one thing: _danger!_

"Get down!" he yelled. Immediately, every member of Team Seven dived to the ground, Sasuke pushing Tazuna along with him as a massive _something_ hurled over them, spinning end over end until it lodged itself on a tree across the clearing – and conveniently in their way.

Naruto's jaw dropped upon seeing the object – a massive six-foot-long sword shaped like a butcher knife with two cut outs: a circle close to the top and a semi-circular one nearer to the handle, which was an extra three feet long. Even from his vantage point the sword looked _heavy_, which meant that the wielder was either extremely skilled or extremely strong… perhaps even both.

Just then, a man landed the sword's handle. He was shirtless, wearing baggy pants with a vertical striped pattern and mimetic wrist-warmers extending up to his elbows, with matching leg-warmers. His nose and mouth were obscured by bandages that were wrapped around the bottom half of the man's head, and his forehead protector, which he was wearing sideways, depicted wavy lines that were slanted at an angle – the symbol of the Village Hidden in the Mist. The slash in the middle depicted ninja's status as a missing-nin – a rogue ninja.

Silence dominated the clearing as Team Seven and Tazuna got to their feet. Upon seeing the ninja perched on top of his sword in the tree, Kakashi's eyes narrowed in recognition. "Well, well, well," he said, "if it isn't Zabuza Momochi, rogue ninja from the Village Hidden in the Mist."

Naruto frowned. _I was right… he's a missing-nin,_ he thought. Out of the corner of his eye, he glanced at Sasuke, making a tiny nodding notion towards Zabuza. Sasuke nodded his confirmation, and Naruto looked back at the missing-nin, already knowing that Sasuke would inform Sakura. _Alright then_, he thought, _on three… three!_

Naruto tensed, preparing to launch himself at Zabuza, but he was stopped by his Sensei's hand. "You're in the way," said Kakashi in a low voice. "Get back and protect the client."

"Kakashi-Sensei?" he asked.

"He's not like the other ninja," answered his teacher, "he's on a whole other level." Kakashi closed his visible eye, his hand moving towards his headband-covered eye. "If he's our opponent, I'll need _this_…"

Naruto glanced at his Sensei, confused. He and his teammates had discussed their sensei's apparent partial lack of vision through the loss of an eye, always wondering how it had happened. Now the genin of Team Seven wondered – what was under that headband?

Zabuza raised a thin eyebrow at the sight. "Kakashi of the Sharingan eye… did I get that right?" he said, his gravelly voice low but hearable nonetheless.

Sasuke had a momentary lapse of composure, glancing in alarm at his Sensei. _Sharingan eye!?_ He thought, _What's he talking about!?_

Zabuza's smirk could be seen under his bandages as he spoke, "It's too bad that you'll have to hand over the old man."

Kakashi glared at his opponent, while Naruto and Sakura wondered the same thing – what in the name of Kami was a Sharingan?

"Team Seven!" barked Kakashi, "Manji Formation! Protect the client and stay out of this fight!"

"Yes, Sensei," spoke the three genin, quickly moving into the formation regardless of their questions. Once they were in position surrounding Tazuna, Kakashi finished pulling up his headband, revealing a vertical scar running down his closed left eye. When the eyelid opened, it revealed a blood-red eye with three tomoe positioned in a triangle around the pitch black pupil.

"I'm ready!" Kakashi declared.

"Kakashi-Sensei…" said Naruto, "Your eye!"

Above them in the tree, Zabuza chuckled. "Well, it looks like I get to see the Sharingan in action," he said, turning around to fully face them. "This is an honor!"

"Ok," said Naruto, glancing at his teammates, "I don't want to sound like a moron or anything, but everyone keeps saying _Sharingan, Sharingan_. What _is_ that?"

"The Sharingan is a special and rare power that resides in the eyes," answered Sasuke. "The user of this visual jutsu, or dōjutsu can instantly see and comprehend any kind of ninjutsu, genjutsu and taijutsu and reflect the attack _back_ at the attacker. The Sharingan is a special, _rare_ form of dōjutsu, but there's more to it than that – a _lot_ more."

Naruto's eyes widened at the explanation, which was then picked up by the missing-nin in their presence. "You got it right, boy, but you've only scratched the surface," he said. "The Sharingan can analyze an opponent's technique… and then copy it to the smallest detail." As he spoke, a thick mist started to roll into the clearing. "As for you jōnin, the assassination unit of the Hidden Mist had a kill-on-sight order on you. Your profile is in our bingo book – it called you 'The Man that copied over a Thousand Jutsu,' Kakashi, the Copy-Cat ninja."

As Zabuza was speaking, Sasuke was looking at his teacher with a speculative gaze. _The Sharingan is a dōjutsu that only manifests in some members of the Uchiha clan, and it's always on both eyes,_ he thought to himself. _How did Kakashi-Sensei get a Sharingan implanted into his left eye socket? Who gave it to him? Did he steal it?_

"Enough talking!" snapped Zabuza, "I need to take out the old man right now, and by the looks of it, I'll need to take care of you first, eh Kakashi? So be it…"

And with that, Zabuza gripped the handle of his sword, pushed of the tree, and vanished. The only remaining clue of the man's current location was the small ripple that was formed in the nearby water where the man was currently standing, left arm pointing straight up and right arm in a hand sign over his sternum. The four Konoha ninja felt the man build up a massive amount of chakra, and after a few moments, the man seemed to disappear into the ever-thickening fog.

"He... he disappeared?" asked Naruto, surprised. _Where'd he go?_

"Sensei, who is he?" asked Sakura.

Kakashi looked out at the water, his eyes barely piercing through the mist. "Zabuza Momochi," he said, "A-rank missing-nin from the Village Hidden in the Mist. He's the ex-leader of the Hidden Mist assassination unit, the Swordsmen of the Bloody Mist. He's also a master of the silent killing technique."

"Silent killing?" asked Naruto.

"As the name suggests, it happens in an instant, without any sound or warning of any kind," said Kakashi. "It's so fast that you pass over to the next life without realizing what's happened. The Sharingan can't fully neutralize it, so don't lower your guard." Kakashi glanced at them, his normal eye narrowed into his trademark smile. "But don't worry, if we fail we only lose our lives!"

Sakura glared at her teacher. "You have a way with words, Sensei," she deadpanned.

Naruto glanced around, his eyes looking into the thickening mist. "The mist is getting thicker and thicker," he said.

"The Land of Waves is surrounded by ocean," said Tazuna, speaking up for the first time, "so the mists are ever-present."

As he spoke, the mist became so thick that Kakashi seemed to be swallowed up by it as well, just like Zabuza. The three genin noticed, of course, but preferred not to say anything for varying reasons – Sakura out of fear, Naruto out of trust in his Sensei's abilities, and Sasuke because… well, Sasuke.

"_Eight Points."_

"What's that?" started Sakura upon hearing Zabuza's disembodied voice.

"_Larynx, Spine, Lungs, Liver, Jugular, Subclavian Artery, Kidneys… Heart."_ The three genin and Tazuna started to shiver out of fear, Zabuza's voice filled with killing intent. _"Now… which will be my kill point?"_

Naruto gulped, not liking the sound of that at all. He tightened the grip he had on his kunai knife until his knuckled became white with strain. _Dammit,_ he thought, _I _hate _this feeling of not doing anything!_

Suddenly, there was a burst of chakra, the mist dissipated by a wind generated from Kakashi's chakra burst alone. Unfortunately, it was also laced with killing intent, enough to finish the job of terrifying the four people behind him that Zabuza never finished.

Sasuke's shivering became worse, memories of a long-ago nightmare resurfacing. _What an intense thirst for blood!_ He thought, terror in his every thought. _One shallow breath, one tiny movement of the eye is enough to bring on instant death… if it goes on like this I'll go insane! _Sasuke gulped. _A clash of two jounin with the intent to kill… I've never felt anything so chilling! It's as if my own life is being choked off!_ Unbeknownst to him, the hand that gripped his kunai was starting to move shakily towards his own chest, blade pointed at his heart.

"Sasuke!"

With a gasp, Sasuke's gaze snapped over to his teacher. "Calm down," came Kakashi's reassuring voice. "I'll protect you all with my life, and I will not allow my comrades to die." The copy-cat ninja turned his head towards his student, both eyes, normal and Sharingan, displaying the reassuring smile he wore. "Trust me."

After a moment, Sasuke took a deep breath and relaxed. Two simultaneous breaths at behind him revealed that his teammates were doing the same, making Sasuke start. _I was about to kill myself out of sheer terror_, he realized.

"I wouldn't be so sure." Three pairs of eyes widened, knowing without having to look that Zabuza was behind them by how close his voice was. "It's over!"

"DUCK!" yelled Naruto, whirling around. Tazuna and his teammates did so as Naruto whirled around, his left gauntlet leading and aimed towards Zabuza's neck. Zabuza's blade quickly moved to block the blonde's move, poised in such a way that it would cut straight through Naruto's hand, but a burst of chakra was enough to have the blade hidden in his gauntlet take the blow.

Zabuza quirked an eyebrow in surprise. "Interesting…" he said, when suddenly his eyes widened before looking down at a thin blade protruding out of his chest. Behind him, Sasuke smirked.

"Never leave your back to an opponent," said the Uchiha, but his eyes widened when Zabuza turned into water around his sword.

"Sensei, behind you!" yelled Naruto, finding a poised Zabuza ready to tear their teacher into two from behind.

"DIE!" roared the swordsman, swinging his sword and slashing through Kakashi at the waist, only for the man to turn into water as well.

_The water clone jutsu!_ Realized Zabuza, _Even through the mist, he was able to copy the technique in an instant!_

"Don't move," came Kakashi's voice from behind, kunai knife at Zabuza's neck. "_Now_ it's over."

Zabuza chuckled. "You really don't get it do you?" said Zabuza. "Your technique is nothing but a crass imitation! I'll never be defeated by a copy-cat ninja like you!" Kakashi glared at him, but Zabuza continued speaking. "I will admit you're full of surprises though – you'd already copied my Water Clone Jutsu when you made your little speech. Very skillfully executed – you made your clone say those words to draw my attention while you hid in the mist, waiting for me to make my move."

"Nice try, but I'm not that easy to fool!"

Kakashi's wrist jerked, cutting through the neck of the Zabuza in front of him and revealing it to be a water clone. Kakashi whirled, spying the _real_ Zabuza behind him swinging his massive sword. Unlike his clone, Kakashi ducked, the blade passing over him and smashing into the ground directly behind Zabuza and Kakashi. However, the rogue Mist ninja merely switched his hands on the handle of the sword, gripping it tightly and using it for support to give Kakashi a massive kick in his chest, sending him literally _flying _into the air.

The three genin were wide-eyed at the strength of the ninja's kick.

"Holy shit!" exclaimed Naruto.

"He's got great physical strength," noted Sasuke.

"Duly noted, Captain Obvious!"

_Now's my chance,_ thought Zabuza, tearing his sword out of the ground and sprinting towards the bridge builder, only to stop at the sight of small spikes littering the ground around him. _Hmm… makubishi spikes. Irritating, but effective._ The swordsman then switched directions, diving into the nearby water.

Just then, Kakashi emerged from the water, his eyes frowning at the water surrounding him. _This isn't normal water_, he thought, _it's dense, heavier as well._

"Now I've got you!" came Zabuza's voice from above him. "_Water Prison Jutsu_!"

Immediately, a sphere of water surrounded Kakashi, imprisoning him. _Dammit, _he thought, _escaping into the water was a bad idea._

"This prison may be made of water, but it's stronger than steel," said Zabuza. "It's hard to fight when you can't move. So much for the great Kakashi – I'll have to finish you off later. But first, I have to get rid of your little friends. _Water Clone Jutsu!_"

Immediately, another Zabuza emerged from the water, walking to the shore without a care in the world. The clone made a handsign, and like its progenitor it disappeared into the mist.

"Listen you three!" yelled Kakashi, his voice distorted slightly by the water prison. "Take the bridge builder and run! He's using all of his power to hold me in this prison, so he can only use his water clone to fight you! However, that jutsu has a major weakness – it can't move too far from his real body! If you get away from him, he can't follow, so _run!_"

Sasuke glared. "Not an option," he said speaking lowly so that only his teammates could hear. "That became unthinkable the moment he got caught! That guy _will_ find us later, and _then_ what'll we do?"

"We have to free Kakashi-Sensei!" realized Sakura, punching her fist into her palm. "He's the only one that can fight Zabuza one-on-one! He's our only hope!"

"Right!" agreed Naruto. "In that case, let me test the waters!" With that, he burst into motion, sprinting towards the clone and flinging shuriken at the same time. The clone however batted the stars away with a single swipe of its blade, only to find the blonde missing. The clone looked up and spotted the blonde in the air above it, fist poised for a punch.

"I've got you!" yelled Naruto.

"Too easy," answered the clone, simply reaching out with its hand and lucking Naruto out of the air by the neck, the shock strong enough to make the blonde forget about his arm blades. By the time he remembered, the clone had already thrown the small boy away.

"Naruto!" yelled Sakura.

_Dammit!_ Thought Naruto as he landed, quickly attempting to pick himself up. _He's too strong! How the hell are we- argh!_ Naruto glanced at his left hand, which was still tender from the stab wound he'd inflicted on himself the day before. The pain however couldn't have come at a better moment, as it gave Naruto a moment of clarity.

_Calm down, Naruto_, he thought to himself, _we won't win this by charging headfirst. Think, and plan._ As he stood up, he frowned at his right gauntlet. _My blade was supposed to eject at the top of my jump – he was _supposed _to see it so that he could block with his sword and create an opening for Sasuke. _That was when he remembered the events of the day before. _I didn't clean off the blood from that Demon Brother's arm! The internal mechanism is jammed!_

Naruto cursed out loud – without one of his main weapons, his taijutsu would be severely hampered. Snake Style taijutsu was created by the Sannin Orochimaru, who was well known to have a contract with the Snake Summons. However, as the man was a ninjutsu enthusiast, he never really finished developing the style. As such, when he taught it to Anko, his only student at the time, the style was woefully incomplete. It was Anko herself that added to the style by incorporating some of the more aggressive moves to it, which she then passed on to her son, but even then the style wasn't fully complete – Anko did like her ninjutsu and Kunai knifes. Naruto added his own parts to the taijutsu style, moves that mainly focused on the use of his bladed gauntlets. As such, with one gauntlet incapacitated, Naruto's move repertoire was cut down in half.

Reaching a decision, he placed his hands in a seal. "_Shadow Clone Jutsu!_" he yelled. Immediately, four clones popped into existence and surrounded Tazuna, temporarily relieving his teammates from guard duty.

Kakashi's eyes widened at the sight of the clones. "What are you doing!?" he yelled. "I told you to run! This fight was over the moment I got caught, now take off! Your mission was never to prove how brave you are, it's to save the bridge builder! Stay on mission!"

Naruto paused. _Well,_ he thought, _he has us there._ He glanced at Tazuna. "Bridge builder?" he asked. "What are your orders?"

Upon having all three genin's gazes turn to him, Tazuna gave a thoughtful noise and looked down at his feet, his straw hat hiding his face from view. "This all happened because of me," he said, "because of _my_ desire to live." He looked up with a steely gaze in his eye. "But I won't let that stand in your way now! Do what you have to do – go ahead and fight to save your Sensei!"

Sasuke smirked, returning his gaze back to the Zabuza clone. "Alright, you hear that?" he said.

"Yeah, believe it," returned Naruto. "You ready Sakura?"

"What's your plan?" asked Sakura, a confident smile on her face.

"I'm thinking…" started Naruto, smirking at the clone with his trademark determination, "that for once, we should work together."

…**ooOoo…**

**There you have it :) Chapter 3, at your service! Don't be afraid to leave a review with anything you might want to comment – ideas, corrections, even flames.**


	4. NOT A CHAPTER

**So, bad news.**

**Tomorrow, August 20****th**** of the year 2014, I start college again. Now, this wouldn't be such a big deal since I've updated before in the past, but coupled with the fact that **_**Heroes of Olympus Book 5: The Blood of Olympus **_**is being released on October 7****th****, I have to rearrange fic priorities. **_**Rites of Blood **_**is woefully incomplete, and it's only Book 2 of my **_**Stregoni Benefici**_** Percy Jackson saga. **

**So, as of now, I'm going to focus full efforts on that fic so that I can finish it before the year is over.**

**Now, this doesn't mean that I'm abandoning my other fics. I realize that I haven't updated **_**The Eleventh Commandment **_**in over two months, but my readers are going to have to be patient…-er. It doesn't help that I messed up the last chapter (the one I'm writing, that is) so I'm kinda stuck now. I'll get inspiration, don't worry, but not now.**

**As for **_**A Single Choice**_** and its planned sequel, **_**A Single Choice: Sippuden **_**(Points for originality please!)… well, every chapter I've written so far for that fic is over 10000 words long. As such, the jumps in chronology are enormous; not as big as other fics, but still. Writing is slow on that as well, since I'm overhauling **_**the entire Naruto Universe**_**. Other fics change one thing, and one thing only in AU fics, but so far I've only seen **_**one**_** fic that did something similar to mine (Kakashi's father ended up being the fifth Hokage, but that's pretty much the only thing I remember). Other fics make Naruto stronger, but Sasuke and Sakura are the same. I don't include Time Travel fics because that's a whole other category, so don't mention 'em, please. **

**The point is, all efforts are going into **_**Heroes of Olympus "Book" 2 – Rites of Blood. **_**It's my personal goal to finish it before **_**The Blood of Olympus **_**is released, so I'll aim for that.**

**Thank you for understanding.**

**Yours truly,**

_**CRITICAL ERROR._PLEASE_INSERT_VALID_AUTHOR_NAME**_

…**curse this site. I **_**like**_** my author name, it's valid enough!**

**Fine. Yours truly,**

**The Helios Spirit.**


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